Digital asset exchange Luno will reportedly be cutting 35% of Its staff. Luno’s management stated that the upcoming job cuts will impact company workers in all supported regions. Luno is part of the Digital Currency Group (DCG) and reports having over ten million customers globally.
Luno further noted that the job cuts were being made because it has been an “incredibly tough year,” which has negatively impacted the crypto-assets market, as well as the larger traditional financial markets.
As noted by the firm via its LinkedIn page, Luno had over 600 workers on its payroll, which now means it will cut more than 200 jobs. Luno’s management added that the planned layoffs should impact workers in all supported areas.
Based in London, Luno maintains business offices in Singapore, Sydney, and other world regions.
Luno’s management stated:
“2022 has been an incredibly tough year for the broader tech industry and in particular the crypto market. Luno unfortunately hasn’t been immune to this turbulence, which has affected our overall growth and revenue numbers.”
Luno’s co-founder and CTO Timothy Stranex, reportedly left the firm back in December 2022.
Stranex left the company almost 10 years after founding the business with the help of Carel van Wyk, Pieter Heyns and company Chief Executive Marcus Swanepoel.
Notably, many other crypto firms are laying off employees because of difficult market conditions.
Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN), the largest crypto exchange in the US and the only one that is publicly traded, will slash its employee headcount by approximately 950 individuals as part of a move to adjust to the challenging economic environment. Coinbase said it will also cut operating expenses by 25% quarter over quarter as digital asset markets have tanked.
In an 8-K filed recently, Coinbase said that adjusted EBITDA for the full year ending on December 31, 2022, will deliver a $500 mill loss – describing it as a “guardrail.”
Gemini, a crypto firm regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), is also cutting its employee headcount once again, according to a report.
Like many other crypto trading platforms, the drop in digital asset valuations, along with crypto contagion, has impacted Gemini’s operations. Gemini has had to halt its “Earn” program, which was powered by Genesis – a digital asset firm that filed for bankruptcy last week. At the same time, Gemini was recently hit with an enforcement action from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its Earn program (along with Genesis).