Crypto Exchange Kraken LAYOFFS 30 Percent Employees

JAKARTA FTX bankruptcy has extended the phase of the decline in the crypto market that has been going on since last May. The long bear market phase has had a negative impact on the crypto industry itself. This condition forced a number of crypto exchange companies to cut their employees.

Most recently, it is the Kraken crypto exchange that has to reduce its employees by 30 percent of the total 1,100 workers. The information was announced directly by the crypto exchange on Wednesday, November 30 yesterday. Kraken is included in the ranks of crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Crypto.com, and BlockFi, which have already taken the same action.

Last year, Kraken experienced rapid growth in the number of its employees. The increase occurred during the bull market which took place in 2021. The company said it was forced to grow fast over the past few years to meet client demand.

Even so, in 2022 there has been a shift in the macroeconomic and geopolitical'' that has had a major impact on crypto exchange companies, in addition to the financial market as a whole. This led to a much lower volume of trading, and fewer new clients.

"We responded by slowing down recruitment efforts and avoiding large marketing commitments," Kraken said. "Unfortunately, the negative influence on financial markets continues and we have run out of better options to bring costs in line with demand," as reported by Coinpeaker.

Macroeconomic pressure has been led by the Federal Reserve, which is rapidly raising interest rates throughout late 2022 in a bid to control very high inflation. Many parties from the United Nations to Elon Musk have warned the central bank that their actions could lead to a major global recession.

However, Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell has warned of a future hike in interest rates, which may last longer than he expected in September.

Despite the pressure, Kraken promised that recent changes would allow it to stay active in the long term.

"Makro is already difficult and we are surviving but the industry's recent misery has reduced short-term optimism about crypto rebounds," Kraken founder and CEO Jesse Powell said in a Twitter post.

"It's a better position now. We're happy to be able to take good care of our former co-workers," Powell added.