Bitfinex and Tether say they have no plans to cut jobs amid market turmoil

Crypto companies Bitfinex and Tether, which share a parent company, have no plans to reduce staff, unlike some of their rivals. Both firms say they are looking to hire more people in the current market downturn.

"Bitfinex is continuing to invest in acquiring talent and resources, in a measured and methodical manner. We have a range of career opportunities that we are looking to fill and our hiring plans remain intact," Claudia Lagorio, chief operating officer at Bitfinex, told The Block when contacted about the company's personnel plans.

Lagorio went on to say that Bitfinex has "never hired aggressively and then reduced staff during a crypto winter." She added that the crypto exchange operator is profitable and we will continue to hire talent as needed.

Bitfinex's rivals have recently cut jobs amid crashing crypto markets, including Coinbase, Gemini, Bybit, BitMEX and Crypto.com. Over the past two months, at least 1,500 people have lost jobs in the crypto space, The Block reported recently.

Bitfinex's sister company, Tether, a stablecoin issuer, is also looking to add staff.

“It remains business as usual at Tether," a Tether spokesperson told The Block when reached. "Tether is profitable and will continue to hire for key roles to support our business. We care about our people and their futures – we’ve never reduced our staff numbers even during past crypto winters and will not be doing so at any time.”

The current total headcount of Bitfinex and Tether is 250, said Lagorio. Out of that, 50 people work at Tether, the Tether spokesperson said.

While job cuts are becoming common in the crypto space and otherwise, Bitfinex and Tether are not the only companies that plan to hire people in the current market conditions.

Crypto exchange Binance currently has more than 900 open positions, according to its website. Last week, the company's CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted that Binance plans to hire 2,000 people globally.

Crypto exchange Kraken also recently announced its plan to increase headcount by over 500 people. Earlier this month, FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried tweeted that the company has no plans to freeze hiring. And Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal recently told The Block that the firm is "hiring aggressively" in "all this chaos."