Giant Cryptocurrency Exchange Announces Layoffs: “We’re Going Back to Our Old Focus”

A company spokesperson said, cryptocurrency The exchange said that BitMEX is reducing its workforce as it returns to focus on derivatives trading.

The extent of the layoffs was not disclosed. A BitMEX spokesperson dismissed a report suggesting that 30% of its staff had been laid off.

The CEO of Cryptocurrency Exchange BitMEX Recently Resigned

The changes follow last week’s departure from CEO Alexander Hoeptner, who joined the company in late 2020. Hoeptner replaces Arthur Hayes, who was sentenced to 12 months’ probation after violating the US Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) during his tenure on the exchange.

Last week, Alexander Höptner stepped down as CEO at Bitmex after less than two years at the company. Bitmex’s Chief Financial Officer Stephan Lutz has been appointed as the interim CEO of the exchange. As of September, approximately 180 people were working in the stock market.

Shortly after Hoeptner joined, he outlined a strategy that would allow BitMEX to become “more than just a derivatives exchange” by focusing on spot trading, custody and brokerage.

bitcoin exchange BitMEX said in a statement it shared:

“We will refocus on a vibrant derivatives community, including liquidity, latency and BMEX Token trading.

As an unintended consequence, we had to make changes to our workforce. Our top priority is to ensure that all affected employees have the support they need.”

BitMEX, a Seychelles-based exchange, was the largest cryptocurrency derivatives exchange in 2018 and 2019 before losing market share to FTX, Binance and ByBit. He created the perpetual swap contract, a form of futures contract with no expiry date currently used in the crypto industry.

*Not investment advice.