Bahrain’s crypto exchange Rain to lay off dozens of its staff

Rain Financial Inc., a Bahrain-based crypto exchange, has said they will lay off over a dozen employees as crypto markets remain red. The move follows news of workforce reductions at a number of exchanges in the US and worldwide.

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

According to Bloomberg sources, the staff cuts were made as cryptocurrency prices have suffered an extended downturn and international markets have also suffered.

“As cryptocurrencies and global markets continue to slow down, this has, in turn, impacted businesses across the globe,” Rain co-founder and CEO Joseph Dallago said in a statement. “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.”

Later, a Rain spokesperson confirmed that statement to CoinDesk.

Rain is backed by Silicon Valley venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and Coinbase Ventures. According to Crunchbase, Rain has between 251 and 500 employees, while LinkedIn puts the number at 501-1,000.

The move follows news on June 2 from the crypto exchange and custodian Gemini that it is laying off about 10% of its workers amid “turbulent market conditions.” Also, Argentinian exchange Buenbit announced last week it was cutting 45% of its staff because of the tech downturn.

The next day, Coinbase Global Inc. said it would extend a hiring freeze for new and existing positions for the “foreseeable future,” according to Bloomberg.

In January, Rain Financial raised $6 million 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 (CBB).