China’s crypto giant Huobi plans layoffs triggered by bitcoin’s fall

Huobi, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, is planning layoffs amid a bear market in cryptocurrencies. The South China Morning Post reported the news.

Huobi’s decision follows similar announcements by Bitmain, social network Steemit, and ConsenSys. As bitcoin fell 70 per cent in value this year and nearly $500 billion has been wiped from over 2,000 cryptocurrencies, the industry is facing deep changes and exchanges like Houbi are bearing the brunt of the fall.

Huobi is reportedly “optimising staffing” by dismissing underachieving employees. However, similarly to Bitmain, it declined to provide any specific numbers relating to the layoffs. At the moment, according to the SCMP, the firm employs over a thousand people, and its spokesperson maintains it is still hiring new employees “for its core businesses and emerging markets.”