SINGAPORE: Crypto exchange Huobi plans to lay off about 20% of its staff, the company told Reuters on Friday.

“The planned layoff ratio is about 20%, but it is not implemented now. With the current state of the bear market, a very lean team will be maintained going forward,” Huobi said in a statement, responding to queries from Reuters.

The statement confirmed an earlier message from Tron founder Justin Sun, who said that the “structural adjustment” in Huobi has not started and is expected to be completed by the first quarter.

Sun, a Chinese cryptocurrency entrepreneur who is also a member of Huobi’s global advisory board, said in an internal memo to Huobi staff that the company has been like “a fire in the (crypto) winter” despite the deteriorating macro environment.

He added that the platform has had an average of 20,000 new daily users the last three months.