While the crypto market downturn has strained the finances of many crypto firms, KuCoin appears to be going strong.
Cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin has denied rumours that it has plans to lay off its employees. The rumours suggested KuCoin would toe the line of several other crypto exchanges and announce employee layoffs.
In June alone, over 1700 employees across different crypto exchanges lost their jobs as the crypto firms sought to survive the crypto market downturn. Coinbase laid off 18% of its workforce in June, amounting to about 1,100 workers. Crypto.com also laid off 5% of its workforce, equivalent to 260 employees. Many other cryptocurrency exchanges like Huobi, Banxa, Celsius, BlockFi, Gemini, and Bitpanda also let go of their staff.
However, the CEO of KuCoin, Johnny Lyu, stated that KuCoin has no plans to reduce its staff. He noted that the company recently onboarded 400 new employees to bring its employee strength to 1000. He also pointed out that the firm plans to add 300 more jobs. Lyu noted the firm would be recruiting into its technology, compliance, R&D and marketing teams.
With this announcement, KuCoin joins Binance and Kraken to announce hires during the market downturn. While Binance announced it would employ 2000 employees, Kraken stated it would hire 500 new employees.
Looking Beyond Employee Layoffs
While the crypto market downturn has strained the finances of many crypto firms, KuCoin appears to be going strong. Reports from its 2022 H1 review showed the firm’s trading volume exceeded $2 trillion. KuCoin also gained 9.75 million new registered users. Consequently, KuCoin now serves over 18 million users globally.
Despite the 219% growth compared to the first half of 2021, KuCoin is still looking to expand further. Lyu reiterated the firm’s focus on innovating and releasing new products. He said:
“We are one of the few crypto platforms that continue to grow by relying on an effective business strategy.”
Lyu added that the firm is focused on maintaining a healthy atmosphere and increasing the productivity and motivation of employees. It also noted it was focusing on compliance. Earlier in June, the Ontario Securities Commission penalized KuCoin for failing to comply with its securities law. The firm was fined $1.5M and banned from the Ontario capital market for life.
Despite this setback, the Seychelles-based firm will continue to push its frontiers as it looks to innovate for the next bull run.
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