As Crypto Cold Intensifies, Coinbase Will Lay Off 18% Workforce

Coinbase Global stated on Tuesday that it will lay off 18 percent of its workers, signalling the growing crypto downturn that has seen hundreds of millions of dollars sliced off the total bitcoin market value.

Other cryptocurrency-related businesses, like rival exchange Gemini Trust and lender BlockFi, have lately lost personnel, citing the arrival of a crypto winter — a lengthy downturn — as the cause for the layoffs.

Coinbase has been aggressively hiring in recent years, with the company’s headcount growing by around 1,200 people this year. The corporation intends to lay off nearly that many people, with about 5,000 employees remaining at the conclusion of the current quarter. Despite the fact that its shares have been declining since going public more than a year ago, the company has refused to accept the arrival of a crypto winter until lately. According to Bloomberg data, they are down roughly 80% year to far.

Layoffees will get at least 3.5 months of severance pay, plus two weeks for each year of service.

After Bitcoin reached an all-time high in November, the cryptocurrency market began to decline. The collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin and accompanying Luna token earlier this year wiped out billions of dollars in market value. Coin values have plummeted in recent days after crypto lender Celsius Network blocked withdrawals in the midst of what many believe was a bank-run-like scenario.

On Monday, Bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, plummeted 15%, its greatest one-day decrease since March 2020. Bitcoin has lost about half of its value this year, and has lost more than 20% just Friday. It has dropped over 70% since hitting a high of $69,000 in November.

After plummeting as much as 7.3 percent to $20,816, its lowest level since December 2020, Bitcoin has clawed its way back into the black. It was up 1.1 percent at the time of writing.