Peter Thiel-backed Bitpanda slashes headcount, citing poor market conditions

Bitpanda, a European cryptocurrency exchange backed by billionaire venture capitalist Peter Thiel, has decided to lay off some employees in a cost-cutting move triggered by poor market conditions, the company said in a statement Friday. The exchange has reduced its headcount to about 730 from over 1K, according to its LinkIn page. “We reached a point where more people joining didn’t make us more effective, but created coordination overheads instead, particularly in this new market reality,” Bitpanda said. “Looking back now, we realise that our hiring speed was not sustainable. That was a mistake.” Bitpanda is joining a raft of crypto-focused firms that have already laid off staff to manage costs. Coinbase (COIN), in particular, cut its employee count by 18% in mid-June. On the flip side, crypto exchange Binance said last week that it's looking to hire 2K workers.