Quidax announces the layoff of 20% of its workforce

Nigerian crypto fintech Quidax has announced the layoff of 20% of its workforce, citing the global economic downturn in a company statement released on November 24.

"We have had to make some tough decisions at Quidax, we had to say goodbye to 20% of our exceptionally talented people. We deeply value our people and it has not been an easy decision to make," the statement read.

The layoffs will affect roughly 20 employees of its approximately 100 people workforce in teams including engineering, marketing, product, and business operations. The startup confirmed severance packages for those affected.

This comes after the crypto startup in August slashed employees’ salaries by 30% and team leads’ by 50% for three months, but just after the arrangement’s expiration period, the company is letting go of 20 of its remaining employees.

The company has however confirmed that the layoffs were not related to the situation with the crypto exchange, FTX, as it has no financial relationship with the company. It also assured its customers that all customer funds are safe and insured through an insurance cover from a custody partner.

Launched in 2017 by Nigerian duo, Buchi Okoro and Morris Ebieroma, the startup has raised a total of $3.6 million in funding according to Crunchbase data. This year, the company went big on marketing deals, spending millions of dollars on celebrity endorsement and was a sponsor of the reality TV show "Big Brother Naija", with helped generate a lot of traffic on its platform.