India's layoff Saga Continues As CoinSwitch Slashes Headcount

Another Indian cryptocurrency exchange is laying off staff, as Indian taxes on cryptocurrencies continue to take their toll on the industry.

CoinSwitch, one of India’s largest crypto exchanges, has laid off 44 employees, around 8 per cent of their staff, as part of a restructuring exercise.

A spokesperson for the exchange confirmed that the layoffs mainly affected the customer support team. However, separate reports also suggest that employees in the operations department have also been affected.

CoinSwitch, which was launched in 2017, has raised over US$300 million since its inception, with prominent investors including Tiger Global, Coinbase Ventures, and Sequoia Capital India. In May this year, the exchange reportedly had 13 million users.

CoinSwitch is not the only company carrying out layoffs.

Last week, CoinDCX, the largest crypto exchange in the country, slashed 12 per cent of their staff.

Both exchanges cited macroeconomic conditions in the prolonged bear market, as well as the impact of new taxes on the crypto space.

The Indian government levied a 30 per cent flat income tax on cryptocurrencies in July last year, which has kept investors from investing in the sector and leaving many crypto companies in India struggling to extend their cashflow runways. There is also a 1 per cent tax deducted at source on all transactions since February.

Some crypto exchanges have reported trading volumes drop as much as 70 per cent.

These policies have also drawn criticism from cryptocurrency industry leaders, including Binance founder and CEO CZ, who claimed that these tax policies would probably “kill the industry” in India.

Two other Indian crypto startups have also shut down in the past few months.