USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle plans to increase its workforce by 15-25% in 2023 amid many layoffs in the industry, The Wall Street Journal reported.
While many companies across the industry are laying off staff to ease their financial woes, Circle has been fighting the tide to hire more people.
41% of all layoffs in 2023 will come from the cryptocurrency industry. Major cryptocurrency companies that have made significant employee cuts include Polygon, Chainalysis, Bittrex, Huobi, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Gemini, Genesis and Wyre.
An important factor behind crypto companies reducing their workforce is the prolonged crypto winter and several crypto implosions that wiped billions from the balance sheets of related companies. However, large-scale crypto industry layoffs are not isolated. About 48,000 people were let go from just four companies in January: Google, Amazon, Microsoft and Salesforce.
The decision to increase the workforce for Circle comes just months after canceling its public debut. In December 2022, Circle decided to go public with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), Concord Acquisition. The deal was announced in July 2021 with an initial value of $4.5 billion and was revised in February 2022 when Circle’s value increased to $9 billion.
Circle chief financial officer Jeremy Fox-Geen said he still wants to go public but is waiting for better market conditions. He added that the crypto industry needs more distance from the Terra and FTX implosions for public market investors to re-evaluate the future of the digital asset business.
Related: Crypto companies cut nearly 3,000 jobs in January even as Bitcoin surges
At the end of 2022, the stablecoin issuer has approximately 900 employees, with plans to increase the number of employees to 135-225 in 2023. However, the number of staff is increasing more slowly than in 2022, when the number of employees doubled from 2021.
Circle-issued USDC is currently the second largest stablecoin behind Tether’s (USDT), with a market capitalization of $42 billion.