Coinbase-Backed Indian Crypto Exchange Vauld Fires 30% Workforce

The staggering slowdown in the cryptocurrency market has swallowed jobs at one more firm. Hyderabad-based cryptocurrency exchange Vauld, which is funded by Coinbase — one of the world’s largest exchanges for cryptocurrencies — has sacked around 30 percent of its workforce. The company blamed the economic downturn and the government’s tax regime for crypto coins, in addition to the ongoing crash for the layoff.

Vauld did not give a number but 30 per cent of the workforce is leaving the company after an increase in the staff by 28 per cent over the last six months. The firm recently hired two senior managers, but it is not confirmed if they are a part of the latest layoff round.

Darshan Bhatija, co-founder and CEO of Vauld, announced via a blog post that the layoff happened last Friday, i.e., June 17. “This is not a decision we take lightly but given the economic slowdown, we concluded that this was the right course of action,” Bhatija wrote. He highlighted three reasons behind the decision for job cuts: fluctuation in the market; “a few market participants” that led people to believe the market is uncertain; rushed hiring in 2022.

The chief of Vauld also said that the marketing and talent acquisition are the ones hit by the layoffs more than other teams, and that is because of the slowed-down efforts with those teams over time. Bhatija said the affected employees will be paid two months of salary as severance and their joining bonus will be handed over to them, in addition to 12 months of medical insurance for them and their families. He added that sacked employees will be assisted in seeking new job roles.

Vauld will also slash executives’ pay by 50 percent to absorb the impact. Furthermore, to streamline costs and expenses amid the tumult in the market, Vauld will reduce its marketing expenses, slow down hiring, and pause vendor engagements.

Founded by Bhatija and Sanju Soni Kurian in 2018, Vauld was founded in Singapore but a majority of its workforce is based in India. The exchange supports trading in popular cryptocurrency coins, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, BAT, XLM, USDT, USDC, BUSD, TUSD, and DAI.