Crypto exchanges laying off 1,100 staff following FTX collapse

The recent collapse of the FTX coin exchange is a reflection of what is happening to the exchanges. The collapse of FTX has had a serious impact on at least dozens of companies. Some companies like BlockFi and Voyager Digital have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Some people are laying off employees to stay afloat. An example is the Kraken exchange.

In a blog post, Jesse Powell, CEO of Kraken, said that the company is laying off 1,100 employees about 30% of its total staff.

This team size was reduced to where it was only 12 months ago, and we described the move as necessary because negative influences on the financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options for bringing costs in line with demand. The 11 year-oldCrypto exchange has offered 16 weeks of pay to the affected employees, as well as an extension of a window to exercise stock options and immigration support for those who need it, as well as an extension of a window to exercise vested stock options and immigration support for those who need it.

The San Francisco-based Kraken was founded in 2011 by Jesse Powell, the 5th largest exchange by volume, with a 24 hour volume of over half a billion dollars. It provides spot and futures trading betweenBitcoin,Ethereum, and over 40 other digital assets.

Powell announced recently that he would be leaving the role of CEO. In March, Kraken made headlines after Powell fired back at requests to freeze Russian criptomes. If we were going to freeze financial accounts of residents of countries that are unjustly attacking and provoking violence around the world, step 1 would be to freeze all U.S. accounts, Powell said. That is not a viable business option for us as a practical matter. The marketplace for digital assets is where buyers, sellers, traders, and speculators come together to exchange cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Ripple against national currencies like USD, EUR, CAD, and JPY. The startup has over 7 million clients.