FINRA CEO welcomes crypto employees who were laid off as agency increases focus on digital assets News โธ US โธ Regulation
FINRA CEO welcomes crypto employees who were laid off as agency increases focus on digital assets
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority welcomes people who got laid off from crypto platforms as it increases resources to understand and monitor cryptocurrencies.
2 min read
Updated: Jun. 15, 2022 at 10:41 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA)ย CEO Robert Cook talked about the agency’s direction towards the crypto market to understand and monitor cryptocurrencies and said that people recently laid off from crypto companies were welcome to join FINRA, Reuters reported June 14.
FINRA is a private company that’s acting as a self-regulatory organization to enforce rules that govern registered brokers to protect their integrity. The company already has clients that provide digital asset securities or access to crypto assets.
Since the U.S. government has been recently leaning into crypto regulations, Cook said FINRA would soon have an important role to play. Therefore, the agency is developing verification methods for digital assets and looking at the possibility of doing cross-market surveillance on various blockchains.
To move FINRA further down the crypto sphere, Cook said the agency would be hiring individuals with working crypto knowledge.
He said:
“We’re going to need to be engaged and prepared to have the resources to do that, so anybody who is getting laid off from a crypto platform and wants to work for FINRA, give me a call.”
Firing spree
So far, seven crypto companies have chosen to downsize and laid off some of their staff. All did so to survive the current market conditions.
Gemini was the first company who announced it was cutting headcount by 10% on June 2, 2022. Coinbase followed Gemini two days later by un-hiring new recruits.
BlockFi, Crypto.com, Robinhood, Bitso, and Bitmex announced similar decisions within a few days. While Crypto.com laid off around 5% of its staff, BlockFi and Bitmex laid off up to 20% and 25%, respectively.
The crypto community reacts to the layoffs and says firing should be the last choice. A Twitter user posted the percentage gains of board members from each company that chose to fire its staff and said they should cut their percentage instead of downsizing.
Boards of these companies should take pay cuts instead of doing layoffs๐คฆโโ๏ธ
-Cryptocom: 3.5%
-Robinhood: 6%
-Bitso: 7%
-Coinbase: 9-12%
-Blockfi: 15%
-Bitmex: 15-19%Percentages spread between all board members or ๐คกs
— TucknCrypto๐ (@TucknCrypto) June 14, 2022
Hiring companies
Binance and Ripple don’t seem to be affected by the crypto winter as much as their competitors. Both companies are currently hiring individuals with crypto knowledge in addition to FINRA.
Binance especially stressed how well it is doing. Based on its treasury, the company will leverage the crypto winter by increasing mergers and acquisitions.
Mentioned in this article
Author 
Zeynep Geylan
Zeynep is an academic who turned to crypto in 2018. Originating in social sciences, she is especially interested in the social impact of blockchain and cryptocurrencies and strongly believes in their transmuting power.
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In this article
Binance
Binance is a global cryptocurrency exchange that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies.
Ripple
Ripple is a US-based technology company which develops the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network using XRP, the digital asset native to the XRP Ledger.
BlockFi
BlockFi is a defunct cryptocurrency lender company which is currently in bankruptcy proceedings.
Crypto.com
Crypto.com was founded in 2016 on a simple belief: itโs a basic human right for everyone to control their money, data and identity.
Gemini
Gemini is a regulated digital asset exchange and custodian that allows customers to buy, sell, store, and stake digital assets in a regulated, secure, and compliant manner.
BitMEX
HDR Global Trading Limited owns and operates BitMEX which is a trading platform that offers investors access to the global financial markets using only Bitcoin.
Coinbase
Coinbase is a digital currency exchange and wallet service that allows individuals to buy, sell, and store digital currencies, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.