Crypto lending platform Celsius lays off 150 employees

NEW DELHI: Cryptocurrency lending platform Celsius has laid off 150 employees which is a quarter of its workforce, as the global crypto market goes through its worst meltdown.

The platform last month paused all withdrawals citing “extreme market conditions”.

According to Israeli media report, it has now sacked around 150 of its employees.

“We are focused and working as quickly as we can to stabilise liquidity and operations, in order to be positioned to share more information with the community,” Celsius wrote in a blogpost.

“We are operating with the entire community and all clients in mind as we work through these challenging times,” it added.

Celsius raised $750 million in funding late last year, reaching a valuation of $3 billion.

The American-Israeli company had processed $8.2 billion worth of loans and had $11.8 billion in assets by May this year.

Earlier this month, cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital suspended all trading, deposits withdrawals and loyalty rewards, as top crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) filed for bankruptcy in the US, in which Voyager has made significant investments.

The development comes as popular crypto tokens such as Bitcoin and Ethereum nosedived by nearly 70 per cent from their record highs amid the economic meltdown.

Last month, cryptocurrency exchange Vauld decided to reduce its headcount by about 30 per cent.

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Bybit has laid off 2,000 employees while global crypto exchanges and firms including Coinbase, Gemini, Crypto.com and others announced to downsize their workforce.