Quidax Exchange lays off 25% of its staff

The Quidax bitcoin exchange in Nigeria has let go of at least 20 employees or 25% of its workforce.

This comes just after the company spent millions of naira to promote Big Brother Naija, Nigeria’s most well-known reality TV program. The corporation initially reduced employee pay by 30% in August this year, and the layoffs were the final straw.

Quidax confirmed that their layoffs had no connection to the FTX debacle because it has “no association with FTX” at a time when the cryptocurrency sector is still dealing with the impact of the collapse of the second-largest crypto Exchange in the world, FTX.

However, the corporation attributed its problems to the global economic crisis. The company released a statement announcing the layoff:

“We have some difficult news to share with our community today. Following the economic downturn around the world, we have had to make some tough decisions at Quidax. We had to say goodbye to 20% of our exceptionally talented people. We deeply value our people and it has not been an easy decision to make.

“In June 2021, the global economy was on track to stage a solid post-COVID recovery with at least a 5.6% growth. Things were looking up and we made several plans and growth projections as a company at the start of 2022. In 2022, the three largest economies – China, the USA, and the Euro area – saw reduced growth. This has affected the global economy, which slowed to 3.2% growth.”

READ MORE: Jumia hints at layoffs in order to reduce operating costs

While reassuring customers that their money is secure and covered by insurance provided by its custody partner, Quidax asserted that it is still in operation and “not going anywhere, anytime soon.”

The corporation promised the fired employees that it would continue to help them by offering them a severance package and by providing health insurance for the impacted workers and their families.

It was also mentioned that the impacted workers would also receive compensation for the period of notice they would have been required to provide if they had chosen to resign. According to the statement, “We will introduce impacted employees to our network of businesses and fintech founders.”

Don Jazzy, a well-known figure in the entertainment industry, was announced by Quidax as its Ambassador in March of this year after signing a multimillion-naira contract. The business followed suit in July, contributing N10 million plus a trip to Dubai to BBNaija Season 7 viewers as one of its sponsors.