Leading cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has announced plans to lay off around a fifth of its workforce.

The news will see Huobi, the world’s eighth-largest crypto exchange in terms of volume, cut around 20 per cent of its staff as part of a wider restructure at the company.

Justin Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur, and business executive who founded the Tron blockchain and is a member of Huobi’s advisory board, said that the ‘structural adjustment’ has not started, but will be completed by the first quarter.

Reuters would later confirm the news, publishing a statement from Huobi which said: "The planned layoff ratio is about 20%, but it is not implemented now. With the current state of the bear market, a very lean team will be maintained going forward."

The report also notes that Sun had sent an internal memo to staff which described the company as “a fire in the (crypto) winter,” referring to the generally deteriorating state of the market which has experienced significant dips in confidence over the past few months with the collapse of FTX and a series of other bankruptcies.

He also said that the company has added an average of 20,000 new daily users over the last three months and described the restructuring as “short-term pains” that would eventually bring long-term benefits.

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