Bybit to Lay Off 30% of Staff Amid Crypto Winter

Crypto exchange Bybit will implement another round of job cuts as it tries to refocus its operations amid a "deepening bear market," CEO Ben Zhou announced on Sunday in a Twitter post.

A screenshot of a message in which Zhou said the layoffs would affect 30% of staff, taken from the company's internal messaging platform, was floating around Telegram group chats on the same day. A person with knowledge of the matter confirmed the screenshot to CoinDesk.

Bybit is among many firms, such as Coinbase and now-bankrupt BlockFi, that have announced layoffs in the past few months as a bear market is taking its toll on the industry. Bybit previously announced layoffs in June.

The exchange is trying to "refocus" in a "deepening bear market" and the "planned downsizing will be across the board," Zhou tweeted. "We are all saddened by the fact this reorganization will impact many of our dear Bybuddies and some of our oldest friends," he added.

Dubai-based Bybit is a relatively new crypto exchange, founded in 2018, but has managed to accumulate a fair amount of trading, particularly with regard to derivatives. The exchange ranks ninth out of 64 derivates exchanges for open interest, meaning options or futures that have not been settled, and 15th in terms of normalized trade volume in the spot market, according to data for the last 24 hours from information platform CoinGecko.

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