Despite several major cryptocurrency implosions, the number of people working in the industry has skyrocketed over the past four years.
According to findings from cryptocurrency research startup K33, the number of cryptocurrency-related employees has increased by nearly 160% since 2019.
In a report titled “The Evolving Crypto Industry,” K33 estimated that the total number of people working in cryptocurrencies as of 2023 was almost 190,000 people. It is also estimated that the number of people working in cryptocurrencies was around 73,000 in 2019.
According to the data, the crypto industry has reached a peak in the total number of employees in 2021 at more than 211,000 professionals. Growth came along with Bitcoin (BTC) all-time high of $68,000, recorded in November 2021.
Although there has been a roughly 11% decrease in the number of cryptocurrency employees since 2021, this number is still significantly higher than four years ago. This increase seems to follow the dynamics of the price of Bitcoin, which soared more than 300% from its average annual price of around $7,200 in 2019, according to CoinGecko.
Data from some major industrial companies mirror the findings of K33, although others appear to be lagging behind. One of those adding to its global workforce is major cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, which has seen its workforce increase by more than 150% since 2019, the company’s CEO Pranesh Anthapur told Cointelegraph.
“Bear markets reinforce the importance of securing the right talent to grow your operation. Disrupting the foundations of traditional finance is not easy,” noted Anthapur. He added that Kraken’s approach to employee retention remains “in line between bear and bull cycles.”
Trezor, a major hardware wallet firm, has also increased the firm’s headcount by 120% since 2019, CEO Matej Zak told Cointelegraph.
“More importantly, our long-term focus is on building and retaining talent,” noted Zak. He added that Trezor strives to retain and improve talent even in bear markets, as opposed to cyclical hiring and firing based on “short-term market frenzy.” stated:
“We’ve been in business for 10 years, so we’re well aware of how tough bear markets can be and plan accordingly. That means we didn’t have to downsize during the recent bear market; instead, we continued to hire.”
On the other hand, the cryptocurrency industry has also seen several rounds of layoffs in the past year, including firms such as Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, Dapper Labs and Kraken.
According to Binance online reports, it is said to be laid off more than 1,000 employees in its recent downsizing over the past few weeks. The alleged layoffs came after the company announced a 20% reduction in the number of employees in May.
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While some big firms are laying off thousands of people, some crypto giants have apparently never employed more than 100 people. Tether, the issuer of the world’s largest stablecoin and the most traded cryptocurrency, USDTOnly about 60 people work at the company, a spokesperson told Cointelegraph.
“We have always maintained a cautious approach to recruitment. We prioritize the well-being and future prospects of our employees, as evidenced by our track record of not downsizing our employees even during previous cryptocurrency market downturns,” the representative added.
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