Due to decline in profits, cryptocurrency giant Binance made cost-cutting moves by reducing employee benefits last month. The changes, effective from June 19, included discontinuing mobile-phone reimbursement, fitness reimbursement, and work-from-home expenses, as communicated to employees through the company’s internal messenger and confirmed by former employees.
Despite founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao’s assuring in a company meeting on Binance’s sixth anniversary that the platform remained profitable and unaffected by a securities and exchange commission (SEC) lawsuit, he cautioned that there might be additional layoffs every three to six months.
In response to the financial strain caused by lawsuits from the commodity futures trading commission and the SEC, Binance has been reevaluating its product offerings, business units, staff benefits, and policies to align with user demands and regulatory requirements, according to a Binance spokesperson.
Zhao defended the cost-cutting measures as part of a strategy to increase the company’s talent density, though he refuted specific numbers reported in the media without providing an alternative figure. He emphasised that Binance is still actively hiring despite the recent layoffs.
Some of the employees who were let go were offered two months’ salary in Binance’s own token, BNB, as a gesture of goodwill upon signing the termination agreement.
Earlier this year, Binance boasted a global workforce of 8,000 employees and continued hiring even during the collapse of other digital-asset firms, including rival exchange FTX. However, the current financial challenges have forced the company to make difficult decisions and evaluate its future operations.
