Huobi to lay off over 300 employees amid its debacle with PI network: report

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Huobi Global might be going through another rough patch, and this time, it could lead to the contract termination of over 300 individuals, reports Collin Wu, a Chinese blockchain reporter.

Wu took to his Twitter account, with over 251,000 followers, to reveal the dire financial situation of Huobi Global. Wu stated that his report is hinged on multiple interviews with insiders at the digital currency exchange.

“Justin Sun’s Huobi exchange will cancel all year-end bonuses, and will prepare to lay off the team of 1,200 people to 600-800 people, and cut the salaries of senior employees, according to several insiders,” the tweet read.

Justin Sun’s Huobi exchange will cancel all year-end bonuses, and will prepare to lay off the team of 1,200 people to 600-800 people, and cut the salaries of senior employees, according to several insiders. Exclusive

— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) December 30, 2022

At press time, Huobi Global has yet to offer a statement over the claims, but there remains speculation that the exchange is still reeling from its sudden exit from China, a region that made the bulk of its clients. Since the exit, the exchange has been inundated with claims of laying off clients, but a company spokesperson has tagged them as “untrue.”

Followers of the exchange might be holding onto Justin Sun’s tweet in December that Huobi will be hiring more female staff to promote diversity in the workplace. Only last month, Huobi announced an end-of-year campaign that would see users win prizes in digital assets as a loyalty reward after undergoing a massive rebrand and obtaining licenses in new jurisdictions.

In recent days, the exchange was in the eye of the storm following the “fake” listing of Pi, the native currency of the Pi Network. A Pi Network statement confirmed that the tokens were listed “without consent,” with a stern warning for miners not to interact with the tokens.

“It’s really shameful for Huobi to do something like this,” a Reddit user said.

2022—The year of massive layoffs for the industry

Massive layoffs in the virtual currency industry were a fairly common occurrence in 2022 triggered by the extended bear market. In May, the cracks had already appeared on the walls, with some exchanges announcing single-digit percent layoffs following the rapid decline of digital asset prices.

Coinbase’s (NASDAQ: COIN) layoff of a fifth of its workforce sent a jolt through the entire ecosystem, while the imposition of hiring freezes offered a glimpse of what was to come. Like the falling of dominoes, industry giants like Crypto.com, ByBit, Gemini, and Kraken tapered their staff strength to remain afloat.

While most firms struggled in the industry, Binance announced that it would aggressively expand its workforce. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said his exchange was in good financial standing because of its prudent policies during the highs of the last bull run. However, the exchange was allegedly found funneling tokens to rescue its ‘independent’ Binance.US last year.

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