Luno, a crypto exchange that is part of the Digital Currency Group conglomerate, is set to cut 35 percent of its global workforce because of the ongoing crypto winter.
Marcus Swanepoel, Luno CEO, informed the employees about the redundancies through a live-streamed town hall. He highlighted that 2022 has been an incredibly tough year for the broader tech industry, particularly for the crypto industry. And Luno hasn’t been immune to the ongoing turbulence which has affected the company’s overall growth and revenue. Employees who have been let go are from the crypto exchange’s marketing teams.
Luno spokesperson said the layoff measure would have minimal or no impact on key operating and compliance teams. The crypto company will also scale back its US and Australia operations.
Swanepoel said Luno anticipated a downturn and proactively planned ahead with a business and funding model. He shared that the sheer scale and speed of all of this happening has put a strain on the crypto exchange’s original plan. The executive said that besides streamlining their strategy, Luno needs to substantially decrease its cost base, which includes employee headcount in all the markets. Doing so will help the company strive for success in the long run.
The global cryptocurrency industry has been on a downturn since the collapse of algorithmic stablecoin terraUSD in May 2022.
