Crypto exchange Binance denies rumours of 20% staff cut

SAN FRANCISCO: Leading blockchain and cryptocurrency platform Binance has responded to rumours about the company cutting its staff by 20 per cent.

Binance, which employs about 8,000 people, reportedly laid off 20 per cent of its workforce, with speculation pointing to the current general crypto market conditions.

The company's CEO Changpeng Zhao, on the other hand, dismissed the ongoing rumours, calling it FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt), reports crypto.news.

According to Zhao, the company has a programme that lays off people who are not fit for the company, but there is no set percentage of people who will be let go.

The CEO also stated that the cryptocurrency exchange was still hiring, according to the report.

In addition, Binance's chief communications officer Patrick Hillman clarified that the company was not laying off 20 per cent of its workforce to cut costs.

Hillman claimed in a tweet thread that the cryptocurrency exchange has seen impressive growth in five years, adding that the company is constantly conducting a "talent density audit".

"Like previous exercises, this will be done after several teams (including HR, Risk, and Operations) finalise that talent density audit. There is no specific number, just direction on where we need to streamline. This has frankly been part of Binance's secret sauce," he said.

The Binance executive did not reveal how many employees were recently laid off, but he did say the figure could be less than 20 per cent.

Hillman stated that the exact number will be known once all teams have completed the talent density audit.

Last month, Binance announced its exit from the Canadian marketplace due to new stablecoin and investor limits in the country.

"We are announcing that Binance will be joining other prominent crypto businesses in proactively withdrawing from the Canadian marketplace," the company said in a tweet.