Wall Street Journal reported Bitcoin slipped back nearly US$30,000 per token and suffered more than 2.7% after the layoff of Binance news emerged.
Heaptalk, Jakarta — The largest crypto exchange is reported to slash its workforce of around 1,000 to 3,000 employees due to uncertainty of the industry’s future in the United States market, with regulators aggressively clamping down on due to illegal activities allegations.
Before conducting this job-cutting, Binance possesses 8,000 employees globally. Based on a former Binance employee’s information, the division most affected by the layoffs was the customer services division. These layoffs were carried out globally, and about three dozen were from Customer Service employees in India.
“Over the last six years, we have enhanced from 30 to a team of almost 8,000 worldwide. As we prepare for the next major bull cycle, it has become clear that we must focus on talent density across the organization to ensure we remain agile and dynamic. This is not a case of rightsizing, but rather, re-evaluating whether we have the right talent and expertise in critical roles,” Binance’s spokesperson said, cited in CNBC.
This layoff announcement occurred as this crypto exchange company encountered severe regulatory issues after several company officials resigned, including Changpeng Zhao, due to being investigated by the US Department of Justice. Other executives also left, including the general counsel, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO), and Senior Vice President (SVP) for compliance.
As it is known, the Securities and exchange commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) sued Binance and Zhao for alleged terrible management of customer assets and illegal and unregistered exchange operations in the United States.
Besides, the US Department of Justice (DOJ) also requested a restructuring measure. If Binance determines to settle the allegations filed by the DOJ, this matter could end up with billions of dollars worth of payments.
This crypto exchange began in 2017, then quickly elevated to prominence and expanded to become the largest cryptocurrency exchange in 2019. In its operations, Binance was able to dominate bitcoin trading by the end of 2022, compared to just 45% at the start of the year. CryptoCompare also shows Binance’s overall crypto market share reaching 66.7% late last year.
However, Wall Street Journal reported Bitcoin slipped back nearly US$30,000 per token and suffered more than 2.7% after Binance’s layoff news emerged.
