HT price dips as Huobi exchange denies insolvency but confirms layoffs
17:06, 6 January 2023
Huobi, which claims to be the world’s leading crypto exchange, has announced it is to lay off a fifth of its workforce but has rebutted rumours that it is insolvent, as it suffered $61m (£50m) of net outflows.
The exchange, which claims more than 20 million users, saw its native huobi token (HT) dip 7% in just a couple of hours on the morning of Friday 6 January, to $4.33, before bouncing back to $4.81 and settling at $4.68 by 18:00 GMT, according to CoinMarketCap.
A spokesperson from Huobi told CoinTelegraph “The planned layoff ratio is about 20%, but it is not implemented now.”
The spokesperson added that the allegations that the exchange would be letting go of 40% of its staff “is another falsehood”.
Huobi said: “With the current state of the bear market, a very lean team will be maintained going forward. The personnel optimization aims to implement the brand strategy, optimize the structure, improve efficiency and return to the top three.”
HT to USD
‘Getting paid in stablecoins’
On 4 January, two days before Huobi admitted to reducing the size of its workforce, Colin Wu, a crypto reporter with a focus on the Asian market claimed that the company was changing the salary it offers to employees from fiat currency to stablecoins.
Employees who would not accept this move would be fired, Wu claimed. Additionally, he said, the crypto exchange cancelled all year-end bonuses for 2022.
Justin Sun, the founder of tron (TRX), bought the stake of Leon Li, founder of Huobi and the former majority shareholder in the crypto exchange, towards the end of 2022.
Sun has attempted to calm the markets down, stating via Twitter “There will always be ups and downs, and it's easy to get caught up in the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) that can come with it.
“But as a leading cryptocurrency exchange, our strategy is to stay focused on the long term and not get swayed by short-term distractions.”
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