The CoinSwitch crypto exchange is the latest crypto trading platform in India that cut its workforce amid the prolonged cryptocurrency winter, the local news agency Moneycontrol reported on Aug. 28.
The crypto exchange reportedly laid off 44 employees from its customer support division in August, citing redundancy in roles amid the bear market-triggered lack of customer queries.
“We continuously evaluate our business to stay competitive, prioritizing innovation, value, and service for our customers. To that end, we right-sized our customer support team to align with the present volume of customer queries on our platform,” CoinSwitch said. The firm added that this impacted the roles of 44 members of its support team, who “voluntarily resigned from their roles after a detailed discussion with their managers.”
44 employees account for a significant share — or roughly 8% — of CoinSwitch’s total headcount. According to CoinSwitch’s LinkedIn page, the firm has 519 employees at the time of writing. The firm didn’t immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request to comment.
The news about CoinSwitch’s layoffs came just about a week after another major local exchange, CoinDCX, also cut its staff by 12%. According to LinkedIn, the firm employs 730 people at the time of writing.
“We are making the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team by about 12% and some of our incredibly talented team members will be parting ways with the organization,” CoinDCX co-founders Sumit Gupta and Neeraj Khandelwal announced on Aug. 22.
The CoinDCX founders also referred to market challenges, adding that domestic exchanges have also encountered the impact of the 1% tax deducted at source (TDS), which targets local crypto exchanges. They wrote:
“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 to drive efficiency and productivity.”
According to the announcement, the impacted CoinDCX employees were promised to receive a support package of severance pay equivalent to the full notice period, additional one month of salary, extension of health insurance and other support.
As previously reported, India imposed a 30% tax on crypto gains in 2022, which resulted in a massive exodus of cryptocurrency service providers and a sharp decline in crypto trading activity. The country has also adopted a 1% TDS by crypto exchanges, meaning that exchanges are obliged to pay 1% on all transfers of crypto assets.
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The Home Office has lost a Court of Appeal bid to challenge a High Court ruling granting an Eritrean man a temporary block on being deported to France.
The ruling will be a blow to ministers, who had been hoping to make headway with their “one in, one out” migrant returns deal with France.
Under the deal, the UK can send back any migrant who crosses the Channel illegally in return for accepting the same number of migrants in France who have a valid asylum claim here.
However, only four people have been deported under the scheme so far, including one Afghan individual who was deported to France this afternoon.
The Eritrean man was granted a temporary block on his removal after he claimed he had been a victim of modern slavery.
The government has said up to 50 people a week could be deported under the scheme initially, but it believes numbers would grow and eventually act as a deterrent to those considering making the dangerous journey across the Channel.
The latest Home Office figures show 1,072 people made the journey in 13 boats – averaging more than 82 people per boat. It means the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel has topped 30,000 for the year so far.
She has vowed to do “whatever it takes” to end crossings – but the Conservatives have branded the “one in, one out” deal with France “meagre” and have called for their Rwanda policy to be reinstated.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “Yet again the courts have stepped in to block a deportation, proving what we warned from the start, unless you tackle the lawfare strangling Britain’s borders, nothing will change.
“This is nothing but a gimmick. Even if by some miracle it worked, it would still be no deterrent, as 94 per cent of arrivals would still stay.”
Meanwhile, Reform UK has promised to crack down on both legal and illegal migration.
On Monday, he announced fresh policies to reduce legal migration, saying his party would ban access to benefits to migrants and get rid of indefinite leave to remain – the term used to describe the right to settle in the UK, with access to benefits, after five years.