Bitcoin Rises as Cost-Cutting and Layoffs Reverberate Through Crypto Industry
2022.06.03 12:56
By David Wagner, with Marco Oehrl and Daniel Shvartsman
Investing.com – Just as it suffered the risk-off trade earlier this week, Bitcoin rose in Friday trading on the back of a renewed risk on appetite. In early Friday morning trading, the leading cryptocurrency is up 1.6% to $30,447 as of 04:45 am ET (0845 GMT).
This came after a sharp rise for stock markets in Europe and the United States on Thursday, with the NASDAQ Composite leading the way, ending the day up 2.69%.
However, the trend of BTC/USD seems fragile, and the crypto-currency could at any time resume the downward path and fall back below $30,000. It’s notable that the leading bitcoin alternative ETH/USD, for example, was not following suit, down 0.9% to $1809.
Will The Risk-On Trade Stick For Bitcoin?
That’s especially true since risk appetite could be short-lived, as risks of a recession persist even with yesterday’s market rise.
Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk was the latest to intimate a major layoff plan, saying he wants to cut about 10% of the Tesla workforce in an email seen by Reuters. This comes after JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon warned of an “economic hurricane” on Wednesday night, and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) lowered its earnings and sales forecasts for the current quarter.
The crypto sector has also felt the impact of the current economic gloom, with cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) announcing in a blog post by chief human resources officer L.J. Brock that it would “extend its hiring pause for new and replacement positions for the foreseeable future and cancel a number of accepted offers,” suggesting that the company is preparing for a crypto winter.
The move came just hours after crypto-currency exchange and custodian Gemini, the brainchild of billionaire twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, announced the layoff of 10% of their workforce, or about 100 employees.
