Crypto exchange Kraken lays off 30% of workforce in wake of bear market

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken has slashed 30% of its global workforce, equivalent to ~1.1K staffers, in an effort to weather the current market downturn, according to a blog post dated Wednesday. Macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have negatively impacted financial markets since the start of 2022, resulting in "significantly lower trading volumes and fewer client sign-ups," Kraken explained. "We responded by slowing hiring efforts and avoiding large marketing commitments. Unfortunately, negative influences on the financial markets have continued and we have exhausted preferable options for bringing costs in line with demand," it added. A growing number of crypto-related firms have been forced to reduce their headcount in the past year, as the digital asset market suffers one major blow after another, with the most recent one being the multi-billion dollar collapse of crypto exchange FTX. In August, crypto broker Genesis got rid of 20% of its 260-person workforce to mitigate costs. In September, Kraken co-founder Jesse Powell left his CEO role .