Forty per cent of workforce of Indian crypto trading platform WazirX have been laid off as the crypto market has been in the " grip of a bear market."
"As India's No. 1 exchange, our priority is to be financially stable and to continue serving our customers," the company said in a statement while announcing the layoff.
"To achieve this, we've had to reduce our staff to weather the crypto winter.”
Seventy of 150 employees of the company were let go with a pay of 45 days. They were told they will not be required to report to work.
The company said the situation is “similar to the trying times the industry faced in 2018.” “At that time, we doubled down and built our innovative P2P engine."
WazirX expressed confidence there is a spectacular bull market awaiting crypto traders after this bear market. The company pointed out that the current global economic slowdown is the reason for this bear market. “We will continue to focus on our customer needs and continue to build. We are confident that we will come out stronger when the bull market arrives."
The Nischal Shetty-led trading platform also observed that the Indian crypto industry “has had its unique problems with respect to taxes, regulations and banking access. This has led to a dramatic fall in volumes in all Indian crypto exchanges."