Report: Crypto Industry Giants Bitmain and Huobi to Layoff Staff

Cryptocurrency mining giant Bitmain and major crypto exchange Huobi have reportedly confirmed plans to lay off staff amid the 2018 price rout of the crypto markets.

Beijing-based Bitmain Technology, which has dominated the mining hardware manufacturing horizon this year, is quoted by SCMP as saying in a statement that it is undergoing "Some adjustment to our staff this year" - a statement reportedly prompted by Chinese social media coverage of looming layoffs at the firm.

As SCMP notes, the exact number of layoffs has not been disclosed, but a spokesperson for the firm has reportedly today denied that Bitmain could lay off over half of its employees, a suggestion first circulated in Chinese social media.

As reported earlier this week, several Chinese commentators have also claimed Bitmain has let go of its entire team of Bitcoin Cash developers, some of which had reportedly only just recently joined the company.

Huobi Group has also reportedly confirmed plans - using similarly low-key language - to "Optimize" its staffing by firing underachieving employees.

The company - which operates from Beijing and oversees the Singapore-headquartered Huobi crypto exchange - has nonetheless reportedly stressed it continues to onboard staff "For its core businesses and emerging markets."

SCMP cites an anonymous Bitmain employee as saying that the layoffs will cover the sweep of the company's different divisions.

According to one commentator's claims, if Bitmain employees agree to leave immediately, the company will help them to pay social security in January 2019, with a salary deadline of January 10, 2019.

Another Maimai user, "Downstairs," wrote that Bitmain has 3,200 employees and 1,700 redundancies.

Earlier this month, Bitmain had announced it was closing its development center in Israel and firing local employees, citing the "Shake-up" of the crypto market in recent months.