Cryptocurrency exchange CoinDCX has started consolidating some of its functions and, as a result, has laid off employees as a cost-cutting measure, according to multiple sources aware of the development. The marketing, branding, and activation teams were most affected by this restructuring that took place last month.
This comes at a time when crypto exchanges globally and in India are facing difficult market conditions and regulatory hurdles and have begun laying off employees.
According to sources, about 80-100 employees were laid off across marketing, branding, and activation teams. CoinDCX asked these employees to resign, and many of them are now serving their notice period and have been given a month's severance pay, multiple sources said. These were quiet/silent lay offs, wherein employees were asked to resign rather than being terminated.
CoinDCX has denied these developments. Responding to Moneycontrol’s queries, it said, "As we are in the build phase and some products are on the anvil, this has paved the way of generating new roles for which we are hiring and this has also given an opportunity for an internal reshuffle. These restructured teams are being assigned interesting mandates to contribute to CoinDCX's growth journey in the Web3 space.”
“At CoinDCX, with an employee strength of 642 team members, we strive towards giving meaningful roles and charters that would help our employees to learn & grow in this space,” it added.
The company was on a hiring spree last year. In an interview with Moneycontrol in August 2022, CoinDCX’s co-founder and CEO Sumit Gupta had said, “We had set a target to hire 1,000 people this year. We will need a lot of people since we are building Okto and also doing a lot for increased compliance and for customer support.”
The current development comes a day after Coinbase, an investor in CoinDCX, announced that it would lay off 950 employees in order to reduce its operating expenses by about 25% quarter on quarter (Q/Q). Coinbase also cited overhiring as a major reason for their layoffs. Rival exchange WazirX made similar cuts in October last year, laying off 40% of its staff in policy, marketing, and communications.
Over the past year, CoinDCX has sought to diversify its business. It set up a venture arm, CoinDCX Ventures, and a Rs 100 crore dedicated fund. Later, it also announced Okto, a new app aggregator that will provide users with access to Web3 applications.
After the fall of crypto exchange FTX, investors began requesting greater transparency from exchanges. In response, CoinDCX published its proof of reserves in November, revealing a 1:1 ratio of reserves to liabilities. The exchange's most significant tokens included Bitcoin, Ethereum, Shiba Inu, Matic, and ADA, among others.
