James Cirrone

Cryptocurrency exchanges continued to have staffing shake ups after Indian exchange CoinDCX cut 12% of its employees last week.&nbsp;



This week, Binance lost its Asia-Pacific head Leon Foong, and CoinSwitch, another India-based crypto exchange, laid off 44 customer support employees.



Binance confirmed to Blockworks on Thursday that Foong left Binance but declined to offer any other details. Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-31/crypto-binance-asia-pacific-head-leon-foong-is-leaving-bnb">reported</a> the news early Thursday morning.



This comes as Binance is executing plans to expand into Japan. The world’s largest crypto exchange has a goal to list at least 100 tokens on its Japanese platform, according to a Bloomberg <a href="https://www.bloomberg.co.jp//news/articles/2023-08-30/S06NY5T1UM0W01">report</a>.



Foong was <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/crypto/india-needs-regulation-before-investments-scales-up-binance-apac-head-7933090/">on the record</a> In May 2022 about the need for clearer regulatory guidelines in India. This was especially relevant at the time because India was in the process of <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/indian-crypto-trading-volumes-plunge-as-new-tax-rules-kick-in">instituting a flat 30% tax on profits derived from crypto</a>.&nbsp;



On the subject of a possible audit, Foong <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-31/crypto-binance-asia-pacific-head-leon-foong-is-leaving-bnb">told</a> Bloomberg in February 2023 that a full check of Binance’s assets and liabilities was far off.&nbsp;



He said traditional accounting firms don’t have a solid understanding of crypto, which was the main reason for the delay.&nbsp;



To date, <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/binance">Binance</a> hasn’t been fully audited. Mazars had been auditing the world’s largest crypto exchange in December 2022 but abruptly announced <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/crypto-auditors-call-it-quits">it would immediately halt working with its crypto clients</a>, including Binance. 



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">M^Zero Labs makes key hires</h2>



Four individuals from well-known companies are joining M^Zero Labs, a startup whose aim is to build a decentralized infrastructure network to “permissionlessly mint currencies.”



One of the most valuable hires for the company is João Reginatto, an eight-year veteran at Circle. <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joaoreginatto/">Reginatto</a> was the leader of the project that built <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/usdc">USDC</a>, which now gives M^Zero unlimited access to one of the foremost experts on stablecoin development.&nbsp;



Reginatto is joining M^Zero as chief strategy officer and will lead go-to-market efforts.



Months after <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/layerzero-splashes-251m-week">M^Zero raised $22.5 million in a seed round from Pantera Capital</a>, the company hired former Coinbase associate general counsel Thor Mathison to serve as its general counsel.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other notable hires</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Standard Chartered’s digital asset spinoff Zodia Custody hired Jonathan Hugh as its new chief financial officer roughly four months after it raised $36 million in fresh funding.</li>



<li>Triple-A, a crypto payment gateway based in Singapore, appointed <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pauloshargorodsky/">Paulo Shargorodsky</a> as general manager where he’ll focus on growth in Americas.</li>
</ul>



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Crypto hiring: Binance loses APAC head, M^Zero poaches Circle exec

CoinDCX cut 12% of its employees this week, joining the ranks of other centralized crypto exchanges that shrank their staffing costs this year.



CoinDesk <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/business/2023/08/22/indian-crypto-exchange-coindcx-is-cutting-12-of-jobs-as-bear-market-taxes-take-their-toll/">reported</a> that the Indian crypto exchange fired 71 employees out of some 590 staffers.



The founders of the Indian crypto exchange, Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal, published a blog post Tuesday explaining the reasons behind the significant layoffs this week.&nbsp;



The two cited the “prolonged bear market” and financial crunches related to onerous crypto-specific taxes.&nbsp;



Gupta and Khandelwal were referring to <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/indian-crypto-trading-volumes-plunge-as-new-tax-rules-kick-in">India’s crypto tax policy that was instituted in July 2022</a>, which mandates investors pay a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS), in addition to a flat 30% tax on profits derived from crypto.&nbsp;



Some exchanges saw 70% decreases in trading volumes in the week following the new legislation, a state of affairs the CoinDCX founders acknowledged was a catalyst for their decision to downsize.



“These factors had a significant impact on our volumes and thus revenues. To adapt, we undertook several proactive measures, including direct cost optimization and investment in automation,” they wrote in <a href="https://info.coindcx.com/announcement/a-tough-decision-for-a-brighter-future-coindcx/">the post</a>.&nbsp;



India’s crypto tax policy was brought to the forefront again when the country’s lawmakers debated its national budget in the early months of 2023. However, the 30% profit tax and the 1% TDS were reaffirmed. The budget also introduced criminal penalties for not paying up TDS, including jail time of up to seven years.&nbsp;



Other crypto exchanges have laid off significant numbers of employees this year.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-lays-off-950-staff-cuts-operational-costs-by-25">Coinbase kicked off 2023 by laying off 950 workers</a> as part of a bid to shrink operating costs. This represented a 20% headcount reduction and came nine months after the company laid off 1,100 employees.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/marketing-pro-joins-segment">Gemini and Luno both made significant cuts</a> to their respective teams in January as well.



Binance, too, has aimed to reduce its numbers throughout the year. The Wall Street Journal <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/binance-lays-off-over-1-000-employees-d59ff6ad">reported</a> in July that Binance fired 1,000 employees over several weeks.&nbsp;



While Binance has confirmed that layoffs took place, the company has yet to acknowledge the exact number of affected employees.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-us-layoffs">Binance.US also cut staff</a> shortly following <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-changpeng-zhao-face-sec-charges">the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s filing of a lawsuit</a> against it.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Alchemy hires former Stripe exec</h2>



Web3 development platform Alchemy said Thursday that it has hired Guillaume Poncin, Stripe’s former head of Web3 and crypto.&nbsp;



<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/guillaume-poncin-012611/">Poncin</a> will serve as Alchemy’s head of engineering. At Stripe, Poncin was responsible for that company’s fiat-to-crypto onramp products.



Poncin has also worked for Google and computer hardware manufacturer Osmo.&nbsp;



Poncin explained in a short <a href="https://www.alchemy.com/blog/guillaume-poncin">blog post</a> that he joined Alchemy because he believes it’s where he’ll “have the most impact in amplifying the adoption of crypto.”



“We are still early in Web3. Right now, most things are difficult. Things break. There’s friction across most of the tech stack, both for developers and for users. But it’s getting better daily,” he wrote.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Other notable hires</h2>



<ul class="wp-block-list">
<li>Nansen is <a href="https://twitter.com/nansen_ai/status/1694309210107084946">actively looking</a> for a director of marketing. The on-chain data <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/binance-re-examines-remaining-staff">laid off 30% of its staff in June</a>.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>



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Crypto hiring: CoinDCX blames tax policy, bear market for layoffs

Morgan Chittum

<div id="highlights-block_6114326ebd373" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>CoinDCX scored $90 million funding, bringing its valuation to $1.1 billion</li>
 <li>FalconX raised $210 million in a Series C round, quintupling its valuation in less than six months.</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Despite the cloud of regulation hanging above digital assets markets in India and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/hong-kongs-digital-assets-double-standard/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">some parts of Asia</a>, investment continues to pour into crypto infrastructure around the continent.&nbsp;



Cryptocurrency exchange platform CoinDCX, scored $90 million in Series C funding, benchmarking it as India’s first crypto-related unicorn, while FalconX raised $210 million in Series C funding to expand into Asia according to recent announcements. 



Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s venture capital firm, B Capital Group, led the equity round that brought CoinDCX’s valuation to $1.1 billion.&nbsp;



Prior to achieving unicorn status, CoinDCX, has faced a slew of <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/indias-muddy-stance-on-bitcoin-causes-confusion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">regulatory scrutiny</a> from the country’s government and other financial authorities over the past year.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">A Timeline of India’s Contradictory Regulations</h3>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>Back in March, Blockworks<a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/indias-muddy-stance-on-bitcoin-causes-confusion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> reported</a> India’s government would “propose a law banning cryptocurrencies, fining anyone trading in the country or even holding such digital assets.” However, India’s Minister of Finance later backtracked on his remarks, saying that the government would leave “a window” open for bitcoin.</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>In July, the Dehli High Court of India issued a plea to the country’s Securities and Exchange Board which called for “standardized disclaimers” on cryptocurrency-related advertising, according to a<a href="https://www.newindianexpress.com/nation/2021/jul/14/delhi-hc-issues-notice-on-plea-against-crypto-currency-advertisement-seeks-standardized-disclaimers-2330000.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> report</a> from The New Indian Express.&nbsp;</li></ul>



<ul class="wp-block-list"><li>&#8220;Having a disclaimer on screen after the end of the advertisement with voice over in English and Hindi&#8230; may instil wisdom of researching and reading up on the risk profiles surrounding crypto-assets prior to investing [their] hard-earned money in digital assets not understood by [them],&#8221; part of the plea stated.</li></ul>



On Tuesday, India’s government said they would further crackdown on crypto use, according to<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/will-take-all-measures-to-eliminate-use-of-crypto-assets-govt/articleshow/85210954.cms" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"> The Economic Times.</a>



Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said he would try to eliminate the use of “crypto-assets” as funding “illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system”.



“The government does not consider crypto-currencies legal tender or coin and will take all measures to eliminate the use of these crypto-assets in financing illegitimate activities or as part of the payment system,” Chaudhary said.



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Tiger Global leads FalconX’s funding round while eyeing Asian markets</h3>



FalconX raised $210 million in Series C funding, the cryptocurrency trading platform <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210810005701/en/FalconX-Raises-210M-Following-30x-YoY-Revenue-Growth-Now-Valued-at-3.75-Billion" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> Tuesday. The latest raise quintupled FalconX’s valuation to $3.75 billion in the round led (in part) by Tiger Global, Chief Executive Officer Raghu Yarlagadda said in an <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-10/crypto-platform-falconx-quintuples-valuation-to-3-75-billion" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview</a> with Bloomberg.



The California-based platform is targeting Asian markets with leaders of the funding found including Tiger Global Management.



According to <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-28/tiger-global-s-20-year-run-in-china-hits-snag-on-new-crackdown" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bloomberg</a>, Tiger Global holds over $8 billion in US ADRs on Chinese companies, as of March.&nbsp;



“As institutional investors continue entering the cryptocurrency market, FalconX has significantly scaled its business and product lines to meet their needs. We’re excited to double down on the leading one-stop shop for institutional trading, credit, and clearing,” said Tiger Global partner Scott Shleifer.



The series was also led by Altimeter Capital, B Capital Group, Sapphire Ventures. Other notable participants include Mirae Asset and Amex Ventures.



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