BitMEX Lays Off 25% Staff after Failing to Acquire German Bank

BitMEX Derivatives Exchange has reportedly cut off 25% of its staff following information shared with employees last week.

For a trading platform with about 300 employees, the number of staff layoffs is estimated to be as many as 75 staff members and without many details disclosed by the firm. BitMEX’s spokesperson said support mechanisms had been put in place to assist the affected individuals.

“BitMEX is making changes to our workforce to streamline for the next phase of our business. Our top priority is to make sure all employees who will be impacted have the support they require,” said a BitMEX spokesperson. “Each of them have been instrumental in the remarkable journey BitMEX has taken from its roots as a small startup to one of the top crypto exchanges in the world. The BitMEX platform will continue to operate as normal, and we will not be commenting further at this time.”

Such job cuts are quite unusual amongst trading platforms. However, it appears that BitMEX has been scaling back its operations since its plans to acquire one of Germany’s oldest banks, Bankhaus von der Heydt, was abandoned on what appears to be a disapproving node from the German banking regulator, BaFIN.

Anonymous sources close to the staff cut push confirmed that former Chief Executive Officer Arthur Hayes has a hand in the entire scaling back push, adding that “Arthur is taking a more active role in the company to effectively throw out what they have been planning and scale back everything.”

Since the active CEO, Alexander Höptner, stepped in, the company has been pushing avenues to grow its platform and brand awareness from predominantly a crypto derivatives trading platform to a more diversified fintech hub. 

The move to acquire Bankhaus von der Heydt is one of the exchange’s attempts to change its outlook, and with the deal falling through, Höptner and the management team will need to make a more in-depth rediscovery of what to do to advance the platform’s image in the long run.

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