Coinbase lays off almost one in five employees

1100 jobs to be exact as bitcoin falls and falls.

Coinbase said it would lay off about 18% of its employees —roughly 1,100 people — and CEO Brian Armstrong has warned that another “crypto winter” may be imminent.

It comes after bitcoin dropped another 10 percent to a low of $20,834 this morning, its lowest level since December 2020.

Coinbase, which allows people to buy andto sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies was valued at $86 billion in April 2021 when it was listed on the Nasdaq, which was considered a landmark moment for the cryptocurrency. Since then, the shares have fallen by 85% amid falling prices for both cryptocurrencies and the stock market as a whole.

Armstrong said the company has grown tooquickly from 1250 in early 2021 to about 5000 today. “While we tried our best to get it right, in this case it is now clear to me that we have hired too many employees,” he said.

This week's sale was due toBinance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange, has briefly suspended trading in bitcoin, the world's largest digital token. The company blamed a technical error.

Celsius, another major player in the worldcryptocurrencies, halted all transactions on Monday when management cited "extreme market conditions". It remains frozen, with millions of users locked out of their accounts.

Cryptocurrencies have fallen heavily amid a flight away from high-risk assets as monetary policy tightens around the world.