Middle Eastern Crypto Exchange Rain Lays Off Dozens of Employees: Report

Coinbase-backed Rain Financial, a large crypto exchange based in Bahrain, has laid off dozens of employees, according to Bloomberg, citing sources with direct knowledge of the move.

• The layoffs were made as cryptocurrency prices have suffered an extended downturn and international markets have also suffered, according to Bloomberg.
• “We have had to make tough decisions to be able to navigate through this period of uncertainty and we can confirm we have downsized our Rain workforce,” Rain CEO Joseph Dallago said in a statement provided to Bloomberg. A Rain spokesperson confirmed to CoinDesk that the statement was made by Dallago, but provided no additional details.
• Rain has between 251 and 500 employees, according to Crunchbase, while LinkedIn puts the number at 501-1,000.
• The move follows news on Thursday from crypto exchange and custodian Gemini that it is laying off about about 10% of its workers amid “turbulent market conditions.” And last week, Argentinian exchange Buenbit announced it was cutting 45% of its staff because of the tech downturn, while top Latin American exchange Bitso said it was laying off 80 employees.
• Rain Financial raised $6 million in January in a round of financing led by Middle Eastern venture capital firm MEVP Capital with Coinbase as one of the participants. It was the first cryptocurrency exchange to receive a crypto-asset service provider license from the Central Bank of Bahrain.

UPDATE (June 2, 19:27 UTC): Added confirmation of Dallago statement by Rain.