Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, is considering laying off some of its staff. According to a spokesperson, this is just a “talent reorganisation” to better adapt the business. The exact number of employees affected has not been disclosed. Despite this, Binance continues to hire for other positions.
Binance explains ongoing redundancies
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of volume traded, is preparing to lay off some of its employees.
The news was first revealed by journalist Wu Blockchain on Twitter, who then indicated that according to certain sources, Binance was preparing to lay off “in an as yet uncertain proportion” some of its 8,000 or so current employees.
SCOOP: According to multiple sources who confirmed to WuBlockchain, Binance has started layoffs, and the proportion is still uncertain.
The total number of Binance employees is about 8,000, market rumors that the proportion of layoffs in June was about 20%. As of press time,…
– Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 31, 2023
This statement remained at the rumour stage for a few hours, before being confirmed by a Binance spokesperson to our colleagues at The Block, who were the first to relay the information. According to the spokesperson in question, this is not a wave of redundancies as such, but rather a “talent reorganisation”:
“We’re looking at a number of different ways of doing things.
We periodically review how we can best allocate our talent to the right teams with the right resources. And sometimes that inevitably leads to letting go of certain employees who are not performing well or who don’t fit in with the culture of the company. “
The cryptocurrency exchange platform did not wish to disclose the exact number of individuals affected by these redundancies, but Binance’s head of communications, Patrick Hillmann, did however deny the figure put forward of 20%. Later, Changpeng Zhao, the exchange’s CEO, also confirmed this.
Simple modality or necessary evil?
According to Changpeng Zhao, this is a simple modality aimed at reorganising the company according to the profiles of the employees within it, rather than a forced decision. He explained that, despite the news, Binance is still recruiting for new positions:
“We’re saying we’re not going to let you go.
We are constantly saying goodbye to people who don’t fit in with the business. Many of them are great people or high performers, but may not fit our unique culture/situation. For example, WFH [work from home] isn’t for everyone “
He points out that these measures have been in place for some time, and that the company is being rethought on a weekly basis with this in mind:
“
” He adds.
“This ‘programme’ is constant. I push for it on a weekly basis. There is no % of people that we have to ‘kick out’. I also push for the reduction of costs, servers, flights, meals, etc., on a weekly basis as well. “
Amid an overall decline in volumes passing through centralised cryptocurrency exchange platforms, Binance has nonetheless been losing ground to its competitors in terms of market share over the past few months, as we can see below.
So, while the giant dominated with 62% of the volume transiting through it last February, it now holds 12% less, which has led it to fall back below 50% of the total market share.
