Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken today announced job cuts, affecting 30 percent of its workforce, or about 1,100 employees. In a blog post, Kraken CEO Jesse Powell says the company made the decision to help it weather the “crypto winter.”
Kraken, a platform that allows users to buy, sell and trade crypto, announced its plans to hire 500 new employees in June, but only as long as their beliefs align with the company’s “crypto-first culture,” which is apparently don’t shout things said by others like “toxic, hateful, racist, x-phobic”. But now Kraken is pulling back its spending after a period of rapid growth, citing “significantly lower trading volumes and fewer customer signups.”
Powell says that while Kraken tried to mitigate the uncertain economic conditions by delaying hiring and “avoiding major marketing commitments,” it eventually ran out of ways to save money. Employees who have been laid off will receive 16 weeks of severance pay in addition to four months of continuous care allowance. Kraken will also provide support for those on company-sponsored visas and give employees access to career networking tools.
“I am confident that the steps we take today will ensure that we continue to deliver on our mission, which the world needs now more than ever,” Powell writes. “I remain extremely bullish on crypto and Kraken.”