It’s been a bloody week for the crypto industry. Digital tokens are falling across the board, and on Monday bitcoin fell below $24,000 for the first time since 2020. (Today it’s down to $21,000 at the time of this writing.) As cryptocurrencies have continued to tumble over the past month, a number of crypto-focused firms have announced mass layoffs, with Coinbase announcing plans to cut 18% of its workforce, BlockFi cutting about 20%, and Crypto.com cutting 5%.
However, for those hoping to work in the crypto industry, it’s not all doom and gloom. As TechCrunch reports, a few crypto firms have publicly stated in recent days that they are still hiring. Kraken, a crypto exchange based in San Francisco, announced in a blog post that it will fill an additional 500 roles at the company for the remainder of 2022.
“We have not adjusted our hiring plan, and we do not intend to make any layoffs,” the company stated in the blog post. “We have over 500 roles to fill during the remainder of the year, and believe bear markets are fantastic at weeding out the applicants chasing hype from the true believers in our mission.”
And Kraken isn’t alone. Crypto exchange Binance is also hiring, according to a tweet from its CEO, Changpeng Zhao. In the tweet, Zhao said, “It was not easy saying no to Super bowl ads, stadium naming rights, large sponsor deals a few months ago, but we did. Today, we are hiring for 2000 open positions for #Binance.”
Zhao’s tweet is also a not-so-subtle dig at crypto competitors. As Futurism reports, Crypto.com and Coinbase spent big money on expensive Super Bowl ads earlier this year–months before announcing layoffs.
It was not easy saying no to Super bowl ads, stadium naming rights, large sponsor deals a few months ago, but we did.
Today, we are hiring for 2000 open positions for #Binance. pic.twitter.com/n24nrUik8O
— CZ ???? Binance (@cz_binance) June 15, 2022