The move by Binance comes amid extreme volatility in the crypto market as investors are dumping risky assets over fears that soaring inflation would force the US Federal Reserve to aggressively raise interest rates and tip the economy into a recession.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has said that it would cut about 1,100 jobs, or 18% of its workforce, the latest company preparing to ride out a downturn in the cryptosphere.
BlockFi and Crypto.com have also slashed hundreds of jobs, while Meta Platforms and Intel Corp also tapped the brakes on hiring.
"Today, we are hiring for 2000 open positions for Binance," the CEO said in a tweet on Wednesday.
Zhao thinks the crypto winter is a great time to increase investment in talent and acquisitions.
“We have a very healthy war chest, we in fact are expanding hiring right now," the Binance CEO said via video link at the Consensus 2022 conference, when asked about rival Coinbase Inc’s recent hiring freeze. His company is also “kicking into high gear in terms of M&A activity," he added.
Crypto firms like Coinbase, Gemini Trust Co and Rain Financial Inc have not been immune from this year’s selloff that has impacted both stock markets and digital-asset valuations, with the latter two slashing headcount by as much as 10%.
Zhao said Binance had been frugal and avoided big promotional spending like Super Bowl ads or acquiring the naming rights to sports venues. Competing exchanges have in recent times put their names on the Crypto.com Arena and FTX Arena, which host various NBA franchises and other events.
Coinbase also jumped on the Super Bowl bandwagon and has been a prominent sponsor across NBA games.
“During bull markets, everyone’s starting their own projects, everyone’s paying everyone ridiculous compensation," Zhao said in the Consensus interview. Now the market is more balanced, he added, and “if we are in a crypto winter, we will leverage that, we will use that to the max."
Binance is also looking to increase its investment in other companies, building on efforts such as its $200 million investment in Forbes, which he explained is a strategic move to help drive the adoption of blockchain technology into more sectors.
Binance probably didn’t offer enough risk warnings and risk management in the past, Zhao said, adding that the company will provide much more user education and information going forward.
