KuCoin’s Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) mining pools will be suspended from 16:00:00 on Aug. 15, 2023 (UTC) until further notice.
The exchange said the decision was “in line with KuCoin’s evolving business strategy” but didn’t elaborate further. It’s unclear if the decision is related to the upcoming Litecoin halving. KuCoin staff wrote:
SCOOP: Following Binance, cryptocurrency exchange KuCoin will lay off 30% of its workforce. Confirmed by more than three internal employees. KuCoin has nearly 1,000 employees. The main reason is that the strict KYC policy was launched after being sued by the United States, which…
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) July 25, 2023
The exchange also warned users to back up and preserve their mining records and related data before Aug. 27.
Currently, the KuCoin Bitcoin and Litecoin mining pools have hash rates of 9.08 exahash per second (EH/s) and 3.90 terrahash per second (TH/s), respectively. On the whole, the Bitcoin network has a hash rate of 349.19 EH/s, compared to 792.16 TH/s for the Litecoin network.
Cointelegraph previously reported that KuCoin is preparing to lay off 30% of its workforce. The exchange denied it was doing so, stating that it had not initiated any layoff plans. CEO Johnny Lyu wrote:
Since July, the exchange has implemented mandatory Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for its users. Existing customers will be barred from depositing unless they complete KYC. The exchange says it has over 20 million registered accounts.
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