In preparation for a sharp market decline, cryptocurrency exchange Banxa (BNXA) has slashed over 70 workers, according to a Monday article in the Australian Financial Review. According to AFR, the change represents 30% of the workers of the Melbourne-based business. When the cryptocurrency market reached all-time highs last year, the company’s personnel count soared to over 230.
According to AFR, the CEO of BANXA, Holger Arians, said in a letter to employees, “Banxa must take decisive actions to reduce costs now, or else our company won’t be able to succeed over the long run.”
Last Wednesday, Arians informed staff of the decision, stating that the company had grown too quickly and that significant redundancy would be made as the market situation deteriorated. European managing director Jan Lorenc is among the affected staff.
Since January 2021, the firm, which was formed in 2014, has been publicly traded on the TSX Venture Exchange, an early-stage market of the Toronto Stock Exchange. The shares have decreased by about 74% over the past year due to a sharp downturn in the cryptocurrency and equities markets. The company’s market worth on Friday was roughly C$46.5 million ($36 million), as it ended at C$1.04.
As the price of Bitcoin falls, lowering client confidence and lowering trading volumes, Banxa joins other cryptocurrency businesses in decreasing headcount to save costs. Coinbase alone has let off more than a fifth of its staff in the past month, while other companies including Crypto.com, Gemini, and lending site BlockFi, have all announced layoffs.
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