Key Takeaways
- Huobi states layoff is part of its ongoing restructuring efforts following Justin Sun’s acquisition of the firm in October.
- Pionex had removed Huobi’s market-making funds from its platform owing to low trading activity.
Cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has announced a layoff of 20% of its staff. “With the present status of the bear market, an extremely lean group will keep up with proceedings. The staff streamlining intends to execute the brand procedure, upgrade the construction, further develop effectiveness and return to the main three,” Huobi said.
Huobi spokesperson further rubbished rumors of the exchange firing as many as 40% of employees. This latest development comes after Huobi adviser Justin Sun dismissed rumors of purported insolvency, stating the business development of the exchange was “good”, and the “security of users’ assets will always remain fully protected.”
The exchange, in its statement, states that the layoff is part of its ongoing restructuring efforts following Justin Sun’s acquisition of the firm. In October 2022, Huobi Global’s majority shareholder Leon Li agreed to sell his entire stake in Huobi to investment firm About Capital, headed by Tron founder Justin Sun. Following the acquisition, Huobi initiated its redesign endeavors as a few key chiefs left the organization not long after Sun assumed control over the firm.
The layoff news comes amid reports that Huobi is facing a liquidity crunch, has shut down internal employee communication groups and feedback channels, and is now asking employees to receive their salaries in stablecoins. On January 3, crypto journalist Colin Wu reported that Sun changed Huobi employee salaries from being paid in fiat to being paid in either Tether or USD Coin.
Twitter user BitRun had also alleged that a “communication group with internal employees” at Huobi had been shut down and “all communication and feedback channels with employees” were blocked. Many in the crypto community also have asked users to withdraw funds from the exchange due to the rumors.
Earlier this month, Singaporean crypto exchange Pionex announced that it had removed Huobi’s market-making funds from its platform owing to the gradually declining trading activity on the exchange.
The insolvency rumors had affected the price of HTT tokens immensely. As per the latest CoinGecko data, Huobi’s HT token has fallen by nearly 11% during the last 24 hours to $4.65. The token is down nearly 30% over the past month.
