Kraken lays off 30% of staff • Hacker News Board

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#91

Post by wpietri » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:28 PM UTC

woodruffw wrote: post #18

> Since the start of this year, macroeconomic and geopolitical factors have weighed on financial markets. This is an incredible couching of the last 9 months of cryptocurrency market behavior. Does anybody actually operate on their belief that "geopolitical factors," rather than astonishing amounts of fraud , are responsible for the current downturn?

As a side note, I really like the framing of "operate on their belief"

> Does anybody actually operate on their belief that "geopolitical factors," rather than astonishing amounts of fraud, are responsible for the current downturn?

What people believe is such a slippery question, especially when those people are participating in or proximate to fraud. It might even be a category error. But pivoting to "operate on" moves the discussion from something unknowable to looking at observable behavior. It's along the lines of "Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, and I'll tell you what you value," in that it can skip over whole swathes of PR and other BS.

I love this and I'm borrowing it for sure.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#92

Post by nightski » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

maxfurman wrote: post #80

nightski wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Options very well can be down more than 100%. It's a leveraged bet and a very common vehicle in traditional finance. So much so you can buy/sell them on platforms like Robinhood.

Is an option "the riskiest stock," though? It's a financial instrument and not the stock itself, no?

Sure if you are being pedantic you got me. I was just trying to make the point that there are very risky positions you can hold in traditional finance as well and you can be down thousands of percent.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#93

Post by nsonha » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

CommitSyn wrote: post #4

> We’re reducing our global workforce by approximately 1,100 people, or 30 percent, in order to adapt to current market conditions. Why does a crypto exchange need 4,000 employees?

In comparison, a certain "microblogging" platform has over 7500 while making no money or net positive value to society.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#94

Post by woodruffw » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:29 PM UTC

killjoywashere wrote: post #89

woodruffw wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I completely agree! My point was that it's very funny to blame the macro (and even funnier to blame geopolitics), when it's clearly just serving a revelatory purpose.

I'm not an economist, but it does seem like the inflation is primarily attributable to geopolitical factors: the various spending programs countries embarked on during the pandemic, China's zero-Covid policy, the Russian invasion of Ukraine putting a premium on both oil and grain. Are you suggesting that crypto is to blame for inflation? how would that work?

> Are you suggesting that crypto is to blame for inflation? how would that work?

No. The only claim is that crypto is sleeping in the bed it made, bedfellows included.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#95

Post by wpietri » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:30 PM UTC

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #90

stuckinhell wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The fraud seems to get political very quickly with FTX. Sam Bankman donated enormous amounts of money to democrats. He was the second biggest donor behind George Soros. He said he also donated an equivalent amount to establishment republicans via dark money channels. Sam Bankman was clearly a smooth political operator.You don't have meeting with Gary Gensler the head of the SEC otherwise.

> Sam Bankman was clearly a smooth political operator No, he wasn’t. This is a myth he crafted for his retail audience. He threw money around. But D.C. is filled with schmucks buying photo ops for millions of dollars. > don't have meeting with Gary Gensler the head of the SEC otherwise You’re saying SBF’s donations, and not his role as CEO of FTX, got him a meeting with FTX’s regulator?

Yeah, if I were one of FTX's regulators, I would be fascinated to meet with him. Or any other big-name crypto person. Assuming they're brave enough to set foot on US territory at all, that is.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#96

Post by JumpCrisscross » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

nightski wrote: post #71

nabaraz wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing can be down more than 100%. Average stocks in S&P are down 55%. Growth stocks are down 70%. S&P is down 18%. Bitcoin is down 60%.

Options very well can be down more than 100%. It's a leveraged bet and a very common vehicle in traditional finance. So much so you can buy/sell them on platforms like Robinhood.

> a leveraged bet and a very common vehicle in traditional finance

Former options market maker here. Taking leveraged, directional risk with options is textbook reckless trading. That Robinhood found people to swing options and crypto is not representative of traditional finance.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#97

Post by 100721 » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

dylan604 wrote: post #20

Veen wrote: post #11

I'm flabbergasted they had so many employees that 30% is over 1000. Still, terrible time of year for this to happen to their employees.

Why is it that approaching a Hallmark made up consumerism focused holiday supposed to be more terrible to be laid off than any other time ?

Because the holiday applies additional pressure to consume. You outlined it yourself.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#98

Post by wpietri » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:31 PM UTC

throw8383833jj wrote: post #5

At least they're handling it responsibly and generously: From their blog: Separation pay: We will pay 16 weeks of base pay for all departing Krakenites inclusive of the paid leave period. Performance bonus: For those eligible, we will pay each departing Krakenite their bonus as determined by their manager. Benefits: We will offer eligible Krakenites 4 months of healthcare continuation coverage inclusive of the paid l…

Any news on what the other side of the deal is? When I was laid of from Twitter in 2017, all of the benefits were contingent on signing a long document that included a non-disparagement clause.

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#99

Post by jmillikin » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

nightski wrote: post #71

nabaraz wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing can be down more than 100%. Average stocks in S&P are down 55%. Growth stocks are down 70%. S&P is down 18%. Bitcoin is down 60%.

Options very well can be down more than 100%. It's a leveraged bet and a very common vehicle in traditional finance. So much so you can buy/sell them on platforms like Robinhood.

A long position in an option can't be down more than 100%.

The only commonly traded way to lose more than you started with are futures (not available on most retail platforms) and CFDs (not legal in many markets, including the USA).

Re: Kraken lays off 30% of staff

#100

Post by basch » Wed, Nov 30, 2022, 5:33 PM UTC

brink wrote: post #12

I remember earlier in the year they said that they were unaffected by the bear market and were still hiring. [1] I interviewed with them earlier in the year, glad it didn't work out. [1]: https://www.businessinsider.com/coinbase-blockchaincom-and-k...

different CEO back then.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/21/technology/ceo-kraken-cry...

It looks like hn changed the link as well. the original link had more info about their past statements. https://www.coindesk.com/business/2022/11/30/kraken-cuts-30-...