In a crypto market plagued by massive layoffs, USDC issuer Circle’s announcement that it wants to increase its staff by 15-25% is surprising. While most companies seek to cut costs to survive, Circle takes a different strategy by investing in additional human capacity.
Circle wants to increase its staff amid a sea of layoffs.
Crypto businesses have been disrupted by bear markets. Some have closed permanently, while others have adjusted their workforce to overcome financial difficulties. However, Boston-based Circle plans to increase employee numbers.
According to the Wall Street Journal Chief Financial Officer, Jeremy Fox-Geen, Circle, the company behind USDC planned to expand its workforce by 15-25%. At the end of last year, Circle had about 900 employees, a figure that has not changed until now. The company therefore plans to add 135 to 225 new employees.
The move comes months after the company scrapped plans to go public with PSPC. The partnership was launched with a preliminary valuation of $4.5 billion since July 2021. However, this was changed when Circle climbed back to $9 billion, seven months after launch.
Jeremy Fox-Geen confirmed that the company is still considering an IPO, but only under the best market conditions.
Crypto Sector Suffers Large-Scale Layoffs
Although Circle stand out by opting for a different strategy, layoffs are unfortunately becoming more common in the crypto industry. Polygon is the latest company to fire 20% of its staff.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the crypto world saw a wave of layoffs earlier this year. Indeed, 41% of all layoffs in 2023 come from this sector. Polygon is not the only company to have reduced its workforce, here are other crypto companies that have laid off a large part of their employees:
- chain analysis
- Bittrex
- Huobi
- Crypto.com
- Coinbase
- Gemini
- Genesis
- wyre
In comparison, only four companies outside the crypto industry (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce) laid off a total of 48,000 people in January.
The health of crypto businesses is highly dependent on market conditions and Bitcoin price fluctuation. With an improvement in the market, marked by the rise in prices, it is possible to hope for renewed strength for these companies and a resumption of job creation.
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
