BitPanda Lays off Hundreds of Employees, Citing Tough Market Conditions
Nicholas Otieno Jun 25, 2022 11:21
The Austria-based crypto trading firm is the latest in a series of startups that have resorted to layoffs since last month, owing to the current difficult market conditions.
BitPanda, a cryptocurrency trading platform based in Austria, announced on Friday that it will cut down the number of its headcounts to ensure sustainability. The firm said it will reduce the number of employees to about 730 from the more than 1000 it is currently stated to have on LinkedIn.
BitPanda’s founders said the company will let workers go as it scales down in response to changing market conditions.
While the founders cited the current crypto winter and wider global economic crisis, they also admitted their own failures:
“We reached a point where more people joining didn’t make us more effective, but created coordination overheads instead, particularly in this new market reality. Looking back now, we realize that our hiring speed was not sustainable. That was a mistake.”
BitPanda is also withdrawing some recent job offers and has notified the affected employees.
The company said it acknowledges the responsibility it has for its employees and their families. The firm stated it has put a top priority on supporting the affected workers to make a smooth transition to the next step in their careers.
“Affected employees will get packages that ‘go beyond’ employment law as well as one-on-one coaching with talent acquisition partners, references, and mental health support”, BitPanda said.
The announcement comes less than a year after BitPanda raised $263 million in a Series C funding round led by Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures. The funding round gave the firm a fresh valuation of $4.1 billion.
BitPanda is the latest to follow several other cryptocurrency outfits that recently announced intentions to decrease their headcounts and trim down job offers in order to survive a downturn in the crypto market and the wider global economy.
Last week, Coinbase laid off 18% of its workers and froze hiring sprees as the market crashed.
Also, more than a week ago, Singapore-based exchange Crypto.com cut off 260 jobs to ensure it stays on track with its profitability goals for the long term. Gemini exchange also recently announced a reduction of about 10% of its workforce to address the current, difficult market conditions that are likely to persist for some time.
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