CRYPTO firms are bracing themselves, for “winter" is coming according to the billionaire Winklevoss twins who run crypto business Gemini Trust.

Gemini is among the latest in the cryptocurrency world to announce people cuts and hiring freezes as the industry faces a downturn amid a challenging macroeconomic climate and rising interest rates.

Just on Friday (Jun 3), Coinbase said it would extend its hiring freeze for the foreseeable future. It will also rescind a number of accepted offers, according to a blog post. Rain Financial, a Middle East crypto exchange which counts Coinbase as a backer, has also announced people cuts.

Here is a round-up of crypto firms which have reduced its headcount or froze hiring in recent weeks:

COINBASE

The largest crypto exchange in the United States paused hiring 2 weeks ago to reprioritise its hiring needs against its highest-priority business goals. After assessing its business priorities, current headcount and open roles, the company decided to pause hiring “for as long as this macro-environment requires”.

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The hiring freeze will include backfills, except for roles deemed necessary to meet security and compliance standards or to support other “mission-critical” work. Coinbase had previously planned to triple the size of its company.

GEMINI

Gemini Trust, the crypto business run by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, told staff on Thursday that it plans to slash the company’s workforce by 10 per cent, according to a copy of the email posted online by the company.

The layoffs came after team leaders were asked to focus only on products which are critical and assess if their teams are right-sized for the turbulent market conditions “that are likely to persist for some time”.

The brothers noted that the crypto industry is in a contraction phase that is settling into a period of stasis – referred to as a “crypto winter”.

“This has all been further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil. We are not alone,” they added.

RAIN FINANCIAL

Meanwhile, Coinbase-backed Rain Financial has let go of dozens of employees, Bloomberg reported, citing people with direct knowledge of the matter.

Rain, known as one of the largest crypto exchanges in the Middle East, had communicated the decision to staff this week. Its co-founder and chief executive Joseph Dallago said tough decisions needed to be able to navigate through the period of uncertainty.

The company is backed by Coinbase Ventures and Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.

BUENBIT

Buenbit, an Argentinian cryptocurrency exchange, cut 45 per cent of its employees but declined to specify how many, CoinDesk reported last week. The company now comprises 100 people across its Argentina, Mexico and Peru operations.

News of a staff reduction was confirmed by Buenbit chief executive Federico Ogue in a tweet posted on May 24. Ogue said the decision was something the company had been working on for months and had nothing to do with the recent crash of UST and Luna.

He added that Buenbit will focus on its existing operations in the 3 mentioned countries and put its expansion plans on hold.

BITSO

Days after Buenbit, Latin American crypto exchange Bitso told CoinDesk that it retrenched 80 employees. The Mexican crypto platform had only just begun operating in Colombia, its fourth market, Reuters reported on May 18.

Just on May 5, the company announced a US$250 million Series C equity round led by Tiger Global and Coatue, bringing its valuation to US$2.2 billion.

The Series C round was also joined by BOND & Valor Capital Group, together with existing investors QED, Pantera Capital and Kaszek.