The digital currency exchange KuCoin has denied rumours that it was planning to fire 30% of its employees, or about 300 people, in the coming weeks.
A spokeswoman for KuCoin said, “We want to make it clear that KuCoin has not started any alleged layoff plans,” adding that any future job losses would be a part of a larger strategy to strengthen the company’s business development.
“It is typical practise in organisational development to make personnel modifications as part of the company’s business growth and semi-annual assessment of staff performance.”
In response to the layoff rumours, Kucoin CEO Johnny Lyu stated in a tweet on 25 July that the cryptocurrency exchange is currently running without any issues.
According to KuCoin CEO, any expected employee reductions would be subject to a semi-annual appraisal of employee performance, which he claimed is necessary to stay “competitive and dynamic” in the quick-paced cryptocurrency industry.
The explanation from KuCoin seems to be in response to a post made on July 25 by independent journalist Wu Blockchain, who stated that KuCoin will soon be laying off 30% of its staff due to a strong Know Your Customer policy in the US that had caused a fall in the exchange’s earnings.
After Lyu verified that the employee reductions were a standard component of performance reviews, Wu Blockchain eventually withdrew the claims.
KuCoin did not specify the number of employees that would be laid off or which positions would be most affected. KuCoin reports that the firm currently has 1,000 employees worldwide, and Lyu asserts that number is continuously rising.
Many of the leading companies in the crypto sector, including Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, had to drastically cut their workforces as a result of the decrease in crypto asset values throughout 2022.
According to reports, Binance has fired around 1000 people since May 31 of this year, whilst Coinbase reduced its workforce by 18% in June 2022 and then by another 20% in January 2023. Kraken let go of 1,100 workers in November, which was almost 30% of their total employment at the time.
As per the latest data from March 2023, the rate of layoffs across the crypto business may now be slowing down.
