USDC Issuer Circle Announces Mass Recruitment Amid Bear Market

Stablecoin issuer Circle reportedly plans to recruit 135 to 225 staff despite the mass layoff of workers by numerous Web3 firms occasioned by bear market according to Feb. 22 Wall Street Journal’s report. 

It was reported that the stablecoin issuer is aiming at increasing its workforce by 15-25% in 2023. Meanwhile, the commencement date for the recruitment is yet to be disclosed. 

Meanwhile, the decision by Circle remains a mystery as it is committed to hiring more workers in a season when a number of blockchain and crypto firms are laying off workers. It was reported that 41% of layoffs in 2023 emanated from the crypto industry. 

Some of the leading crypto firms that laid-off workers include Polygon, Chainalysis, Bittrex, Huobi, Crypto.com, Coinbase, Gemini, Genesis, and Wyre. 

It is noteworthy that the major factor responsible for the layoff was the prolonged crypto winter as well as the FTX exchange debacle that negatively affected a number of crypto firms, and subsequently wiped off billions from the balance sheets of companies. 

Apart from crypto-related layoffs, more than 48,000 people were laid off by four companies (Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce) in January in reaction to the harsh market conditions. 

The plan by Circle to increase its workforce emerged barely months after it mutually called off its plan to go public via a Special Purpose Acquisition Company (SPAC) merger. 

The SPAC merger was a deal conceived in July 2021 with a valuation of $4.5 billion before it was upscaled to $9 billion in 2022.

USDC Forges Ahead Amid Ban Rumour

While there has been a rumour that stablecoin issuer Circle will face charges by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over its USDC, it has continued to make headways. 

Recall that the FinTech company, Circle, recently announced that it would now accept Apple Pay. The decision led to a collaboration between Circle and Apple Pay.

In the meantime, Circle also advanced support for the Solana ecosystem through the expansion of native support for Euro Coin and developer access to cross-chain transfer protocol in the first half of 2023.