Aussie Exchange ‘Banxa’ Cuts 30% of Staff, Citing ‘Crypto Winter’

Australian crypto payments operator Banxa will lay off more than 30 percent of its global staff to reduce operating costs amid the ongoing bear market.

“Like many others in our industry [we] are anticipating another crypto winter, with trading volumes declining significantly,” said Banxa CEO Holger Arians in a grim letter to staff.

“We saw our market capitalisation nearly halve in a matter of days, and the forecast is that these conditions will most likely continue for another 12 months.”

Banxa must take decisive actions to reduce costs now, or else our company won’t be able to succeed over the long run.

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Holger Arians, CEO, Banxa

With staff across seven different countries, including Australia, APAC, the US, UK and Canada, Banxa will reportedly cut employee numbers from 230 employees to 160.

European MD Also Out the Door

Banxa is an international Web3 on-and-off ramp solution that facilitates conversions between digital assets (including cryptocurrencies and NFTs) and fiat currencies. The company’s European managing director, Jan Lorenc, is also likely to step down, indicating Banxa’s diminishing interest in the Euro market.

The company has traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange’s early-stage TSX Venture Exchange since January 2021, but its shares have plunged 74 per cent in the past 12 months as the crypto and broader tech markets continue to cop a hammering.

Banxa will centralise its operations in the Australian and Philippines markets in order to better prioritise higher margins and profitability in the face of current industry headwinds, according to a spokesperson.

Jobless Crypto Queue Lengthens

Other major cryptocurrency platforms have also slashed their head counts. In mid-June, lending platform BlockFi and major exchange Crypto.com announced they would cut more than 400 jobs between them. Just a day later, Coinbase revealed it would be liquidating 1,100 jobs, or around 18 percent of its total workforce. With Gemini and Robinhood also recently rationalising their staff numbers, it would seem that the crypto winter is already upon us.