SINGAPORE, Jan 6 Reuters 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 Huobi39;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.

Huobi was ranked the eighth largest crypto exchange in terms of volume as of last November, according to analytics website CoinGecko.

Sun billed the restructuring as shortterm pains that can eventually bring advantages to the exchange. It was not immediately clear how many staff Huobi currently has.

The layoffs come against the broader backdrop of concerns about reserves and solvency at various cryptocurrency exchanges and lenders after the collapse of FTX and a series of other bankruptcies last year.

Cryptocurrency firm Genesis just cut 30 of its workforce in a second round of layoffs in less than…