Crypto exchange Bithumb plans to lay off 50 pct of employees

Bithumb is reportedly the latest company in the cryptocurrency space to reduce its headcount, a report from CoinDesk has revealed.

The South Korean cryptocurrency exchange is planning to cut its number of employees by nearly 50 percent, bringing the headcount to 150 from 310 at the start of March.

A Bithumb official affirmed the 50 percent figure but added that the majority of those departing from the company are those employees who already wanted to leave.

“Voluntary retirement is part of our support program for former employees and is intended to provide assistance and training for job placement,” said the Bithumb official. “Apart from that, [Bithumb’s] trading volume has decreased compared to the previous year, [so] we are trying to provide internal measures. We will continue to add necessary personnel for various new businesses.”

A number of companies in the crypto and blockchain space have resorted to layoffs to fight the situation brought about by “crypto winter.”

Just this month, Dash Core Group and the NEM Foundation have announced that they have made significant cuts in their staffing levels. Other companies that announced layoffs in the past couple of weeks include ShapeShift, Bitmain, and ConsenSys, among others.