Bitcoin Sales May Pick Up Around ‘Halving,’ Crypto.com CEO Says

Suvashree Ghosh, Haslinda Amin and Sidhartha Shukla, Bloomberg News

A bitcoin logo in the window of a cryptocurrency exchange bureau in Istanbul, Turkey, on Friday, March 1, 2024. Bitcoin has jumped over 40% already this year atop the successful debut of the US ETFs, which directly hold the token. Photographer: David Lombeida/Bloomberg , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Major digital-asset exchange Crypto.com is in the middle of a hiring drive that could see its headcount grow by a total of 1,400 people, the latest sign of an improved employment outlook in the sector.

The company, which also has a wallet business, has already hired 700 additional employees since November last year and plans to bring in another 500 people in customer services roles, as well as 200 people in corporate positions, according to Chief Executive Officer Kris Marszalek.

Crypto.com cut a fifth of its staff in early 2023 to control costs following a market rout that felled dozens of digital-asset outfits. The firm began hiring again after tokens including Bitcoin rallied. Rivals such as Coinbase Global Inc., Kraken, Binance and Gemini have also been adding staff.

Marszalek said in a Bloomberg News interview Tuesday that he hopes to triple registered users from more than 80 million currently. Hiring to support that growth will take place “slowly, thoughtfully, and strategically,” he said. “We’ve learned that we didn’t actually move faster just by increasing headcount.”

In a separate interview to Bloomberg TV, Marszalek said that Bitcoin selling may become evident as the date of the so-called halving nears but the event is set to bolster the price of the largest digital asset longer term.

The halving reduces new supply of Bitcoin and is expected around April 20. Historically, it’s proved a tailwind for prices, though there are doubts about whether a repeat is likely given Bitcoin already hit a record high in mid-March.

‘Sell-the-News’

“As we approach this date there may be some selling coming up” due to buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news trading, Marszalek said on television. Over a longer period, the halving will make a “substantial difference” and is a “positive development for the market,” he said.

Read more: Bitcoin ‘Halving’ Will Deal a $10 Billion Blow to Crypto Miners

Bitcoin was little changed at $63,260 as of 11 a.m. Tuesday in London. Inflows into three-month-old spot-Bitcoin exchange-traded funds in the US helped the token reach an all-time peak of $73,798 last month.

“I expect pretty decent action within the six months following the Bitcoin halving,” Marszalek said.

The halving will cut the amount of Bitcoin that so-called miners can earn each day for validating transactions to 450 from 900. Miners compete for the reward by solving mathematical puzzles using superfast computers.

Trading volume on Crypto.com over the past 24 hours topped $1.5 billion, CoinGecko figures show. Approximately half its users are in the US, about a third in Europe and the UK, and 10% in Asia, Marszalek added. The US accounts for 50% of the firm’s revenue.

The company will begin offering services for South Korean retail customers later this month, an expansion Marszalek described as a long-term strategy.

--With assistance from Ryan Weeks, stacy-marie ishmael and Karthikeyan Sundaram.

(Updates from the first paragraph with Crypto.com’s hiring plans.)