The prolonged bear market keeps affecting the activities of the players in the crypto ecosystem. The CEO of the Bybit exchange has announced that his platform will be making a general layoff. Sources are even talking about 30% of the current staff. This decision comes just six months after an almost similar layoff. What arouses suspicions of internal difficulties that could lead to bankruptcy as was the case of FTX.
30% of Bybit staff to be laid off
Cryptocurrency exchanges are going through some tough times. In addition to the lingering bear market, the collapse of FTX has led to a loss of confidence in centralized platforms. These complicated times require tricky solutions as Ben Zhou said. The CEO of the Bybit exchange has indeed announced the downsizing of his company.
For Ben Zhou, this reduction in staff aims to perpetuate the platform’s activities despite the market slowdown. The CEO of Bybit wants to ensure a dignified dismissal to the employees concerned, whom he thanks for their loyal service to the platform. In particular, he made it known that the dismissal will be as smooth as possible.
We are all saddened by the fact that this reorganization will impact many of our beloved Bybuddies and some of our oldest friends… We will try to make this process as smooth as possible, while listening to those affected.
Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit
Ben Zhou has not delivered the extent of the upcoming layoff at his company. Crypto reporter Wu Blockchain thinks he knows. He reports that 30% of Bybit’s staff would be affected by the layoff. Recall that Bybit had already made a mass layoff last June.
Aware of Bybit users’ concerns, Ben Zhou is reassuring
While memories of the FTX collapse are still vivid, the massive layoffs at Bybit have some of its users worried. For some, the mass layoffs could be indicative of a liquidity shortage that could ultimately lead to the suspension of withdrawals.
This is particularly feared by Matthew Guru who introduces himself as the head of a trading group using Bybit. Responding to Ben Zhou’s tweet, this trader claims to have started withdrawing his funds to prepare for any eventuality. His 300 nervous fellow traders decided to follow his lead.
Responding to this concern, Ben Zhou was keen to reassure and even encourage users to withdraw their funds to test the health of the exchange:
Bybit operations are not affected, this is done to maximize our long-term sustainability. In fact, if this were the case, I would not be announcing it publicly. You are welcome to withdraw your funds to test the health of our exchange and when you are more comfortable, you will know where to find us.
Ben Zhou, CEO of Bybit
The announcement of the layoff of 30% of Bybit‘s staff comes just days after its competitor Kraken announced a similarly large workforce reduction. This is probably a measure to deal with the market downturn and not an indicator of impending bankruptcy. However, caution must continue to be exercised and it is best to keep your coins in a decentralized wallet like MetaMask or on your Ledger. We hope that Bybit will return to its former economic health, making a mockery of the individuals already calling it ByeBit.
I dream of a world where every citizen has total control over themselves, including their finances. I believe that Bitcoin is one of the tools that will achieve this revolution. Since 2019, I am learning about this cryptocurrency and spreading the word around.
