The popular retail platform Robinhood has laid off 9% of its workforce amid a sell-off in its shares that has seen HOOD plummet to record lows.
In the last 30 days alone, HOOD has sunk roughly 38% to stand at $9.99 at the time of writingmarking its lowest price since its initial public offering (IPO) launch in mid-2021.
The decline is part of a long-term downtrend that has seen the price of HOOD decline continuously from its all-time high of approximately $70.39 on August 4, 2021.according to TradingView.
Robinhood publicly announced its headcount reshuffle via a Tuesday blog post from CEO and co-founder Vlad Tenev. He pointed out that after going through a “hyper-growth period” between 2020 and the first half of 2021, the firm’s headcount had increased almost sixfold, from 700 to almost 3,800 employees.
Nevertheless, Tenev suggested that too many jobs at the company have since become unnecessary.stating that:
“This rapid growth in the workforce has resulted in the duplication of some job roles and functions, and more layering and complexity than is optimal. After carefully considering all of these factors, we have determined that making these headcount reductions at Robinhood is the right decision to improve efficiency.”
“We will retain and continue to hire exceptional talent in key roles and offer additional learning and career growth opportunities to our employees”he added.
Will cryptocurrencies help fuel the recovery?
Looking to the future Robinhood claimed in the announcement that it is well positioned for the future with more than $6 billion in cash on its balance sheet, while noting that it will continue to introduce “key new products across brokerage, crypto and spend/save” in 2022..
Last year, the firm’s total revenues amounted to USD 1,820 million, 89% more than in 2020and a significant portion of Robinhood’s performance was due to revenue generated from its cryptocurrency services.
Cryptocurrency transaction revenue reached a total of $419 million in 2021, which is a whopping 1,451% increase compared to the previous year. In the second quarter of 2021, in particular, cryptocurrencies accounted for 41% of Robinhood’s total revenue.. However, it is worth noting that the figure dropped to around 13% in the fourth quarter.
Robin Hood does not seem to be losing interest in the sector this year and has made a lot of moves to expand its cryptocurrency offerings lately.
On April 19, Cointelegraph reported that Robinhood acquired UK crypto asset firm Ziglu to aid its expansion plans in the UK and European markets.something that, according to Tenev, “will continue to accelerate” this year.
Earlier this month, Robinhood also launched its long-awaited cryptocurrency wallet to two million waitlisted users, outlined plans to integrate the Lightning Network, and listed Shiba Inu (SHIB) after months of campaigning by supporters..
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