Binance Confirms Layoffs, CEO Claims Only Non-Performing Or Culturally Unfit Employees Fired

Key Takeaways:

• Crypto exchange Binance has laid off an unknown number of employees.
• CEO Zhao claims it’s not downsizing but a scheduled restructuring.

NEW DELHI (CoinChapter.com) — Binance has laid off an unknown portion of its workforce, a surprise move after CEO Changepeng ‘CZ’ Zhao had claimed the exchange would likely go on a hiring spree in 2023 in Jan.

Crypto journalist Colin Wu first revealed the news, citing unnamed sources. The journalist claimed that though the exact numbers are unclear, rumors of a 20% downsizing were swirling in the market.

Moreover, Wu noted that the compensation plans for the fired employees would be tailored to different situations. The Binance layoffs come at a time when daily active users and trading volume have declined over the past few months.

Early 2023 saw a spate of layoffs as the crypto industry reeled from the fallout of the FTX disaster and a bear market. Crypto exchange Kraken laid off 1,100 employees in Nov 2022. Huobi and Coinbase slashed 20% of their workforce in 2023.

Binance: Not Layoffs, But A “Talent Density Audit And Resource Allocation”

Understandably, Binance went into damage control, with CEO CZ claiming the news was just FUD based on “rumors of layoffs.“

Binance’s chief communications officer Patrick Hillmann also claimed that the exchange was not downsizing 20% of its workforce. Hillmann noted that the competition in the crypto industry was “relentlessly dynamic.”

The markets literally never sleep. That combined with the explosive growth the industry has seen requires competing organizations to remain disciplined and dynamic unlike any other industry before it.

Patrick Hillmann noted

Binance’s CEO also shared a similar statement. CZ tweeted that the crypto exchange regularly lets go of employees who were not a “strong fit with the company.”

Zhao noted that the exchange often let go of employees with good performance records if they did not fit Binance’s “unique culture/situation.”

This “program” is constant. I push for it on a weekly basis. There is no % of people we have to “push out.” I also push for cost-cutting, servers, flights, meals, etc., every week too.

Binance CEO Changepeng ‘CZ’ Zhao said.

Moreover, Zhao claimed that the exchange was still hiring. At writing, Binance had listed 325 job listings on its website.

The exchange has been facing some trouble over the past few months. In March, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit alleging Binance and its CEO, Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao, repeatedly broke US derivatives rules.

Additionally, the exchange suffered an outage in March, while BRC-20 clogged it and forced a pause in BTC withdrawals in May.