from Hacker News

Binance lays off over 1k Employees

by jason_zig on 7/14/23, 5:06 PM with 219 comments

  • by toomuchtodo on 7/14/23, 5:40 PM

  • by ot on 7/14/23, 6:07 PM

    > It was not easy saying no to Super bowl ads, stadium naming rights, large sponsor deals a few months ago, but we did. Today, we are hiring for 2000 open positions for #Binance.

    https://twitter.com/cz_binance/status/1537013824666095617

    Jun 2022, didn't age well.

  • by benreesman on 7/14/23, 6:15 PM

    I haven’t paid any serious attention to crypto-type markets in a while but historically BTC/USDT was a pretty good number to look at if you could only look at one and it’s (glances)…whoa back above 30k? That’s not like peak tulip or even close but historically like, high-ish I think. I don’t particularly feel like reading the entrails of the crypto chicken at the moment so I’m going to assume that the crypto market (including the perpetual futures and stuff where Binance makes the big bucks) isn’t lying in ruins. I’m sure someone will let me know if that’s way off.

    8 thousand people is not a lot for a company doing trillions of dollars of transactions in dozens of countries most which have at least some regulation. That would be a lot if they were all engineers and quants, but even there, an electronic stock market is a tricky little devil to build and operate.

    So is this a bad outlook for crypto, a serious setback in the various regulatory battles, or just another brick in the wall of what is increasing looking like Don’t Poach Gate 2.0? (Sorry Bond Villains, the kids were going to hear about that eventually.)

  • by zeitgeistcowboy on 7/14/23, 5:59 PM

    The article says a spokesperson said they "need to focus on talent density." Talent density is a new buzz word to me!

  • by WestCoastJustin on 7/14/23, 5:53 PM

    > Binance had a global staff of 8,000

    A 12.5% reduction. Also, they are way larger than I thought with 8k employees. I don't know what's involved with running an exchange but they must be into lots of things with that many folks.

  • by resolutebat on 7/14/23, 8:59 PM

    > As we prepare for the next major bull cycle, it has become clear that we need to focus on talent density across the organization to ensure we remain nimble and dynamic. This is not a case of rightsizing, but rather, re-evaluating whether we have the right talent and expertise in critical roles.

    This is some next level PR "major bull" right here. Not only are they claiming with a straight face that these are not layoffs, but they're saying it's happening because crypto is about to rocket to the moon! (As opposed to, say, Binance being currently raked over the coals by every financial regulator on the planet.)

  • by robocat on 7/14/23, 7:50 PM

    Off topic, but Binance UI and onboarding is a complete tipster fire.

    A binance user asked me to pay USD40 using binance: I went through the process of signing up - it was incredibly difficult with significant roadblocks at every step - horrific UI choices.

    A company that fails to onboard a paying user is not going to do well.

    The only reason I made it through the onboarding was that I was very stubborn and I have sufficient knowledge to eventually work past the worst UI blocks. It was an extremely frustrating and confusing process.

    Even once I had passed the KYC compliance and got money deposited (more nightmare), the UI is still a shitfest of unclear usability. So many obvious failures at every step.

    Also they had an incentive system to refer someone, but it appears to be completely broken so even their signup incentives are a failure.

    I have never had such a poor experience trying to give a company some money.

  • by ElevenLathe on 7/14/23, 7:35 PM

    It's pretty insane that they have this many employees to start with.

    > Before the layoffs, Binance had a global staff of 8,000.

    The whole thing is self-evidently a massive scam! There are still 7,000 people working there!

  • by moneywoes on 7/14/23, 5:59 PM

    Interesting I recall them mentioning how they were resistant to the market turmoil that caused Coinbase to conduct their layoffs

  • by michelb on 7/15/23, 3:04 PM

    I deleted my Binance account last month but still get service email (because I'm a 'client') without the ability to unsubscribe or turn it off (I have no account). All contact is ignored. Great company.

  • by theusus on 7/14/23, 7:49 PM

    I remember getting an interview opportunity a couple of months ago. And the hiring manager said they are going fine. Didn't age well

  • by ForOldHack on 7/14/23, 7:25 PM

    How did they have 1000 people in the first place?

  • by RyanAdamas on 7/14/23, 6:58 PM

    We just need a law that bans cryptographic exchanges and transfers in the USA. They are not assets, they provide no real utility, they are just speculative devices that no longer function as originally intended; as a replacement for fiat currency. So, it simply needs to be outlawed and all the money repatriated into whatever currency it came from; most of it dollars.

  • by busterarm on 7/14/23, 5:59 PM

    Not even a whole month since the last layoff...

  • by throwaway5959 on 7/14/23, 8:16 PM

    Contractors on the Death Star.