Ukraine-based blockchain firm announces ‘we’re still hiring’ amid market downturn, war

Sergey Vasylchuk, the chief executive officer of Ukraine-based decentralized staking provider Everstake, has said the company will continue to hire crypto professionals amid a market downturn and ongoing conflict in the country. 

In a Wednesday Twitter thread, Vasylchuk said Everstake had hired 30 people since the Russian war against Ukraine started in February, and the firm still had more than 10 positions in marketing and development to fill. According to the CEO, Everstake is “not firing anybody” and had made preparations for a “special fund” to tide the firm over in the event of a bear market.

“An important part of doing business is assessing and addressing all potential risks,” said Vasylchuk. “We couldn’t help but expect another market crash simply because risk management dictates that one must always expect things to go south.”

1/8 I’m very sorry to hear that lots of our fellow crypto companies are forced to lay people off or at least freeze their hiring as long as bears reign supreme on the market. Despite that, @everstake_pool is not laying anyone off. And there’s a good reason for that.

— Sergey | Everstake (@sergattic) June 15, 2022

The Everstake CEO hinted that part of this preparation was due to the possibility Russian forces would invade Ukraine. Vasylchuk said similar precautions taken in the event of a market downturn had allowed the firm to avoid letting employees go — “though I must admit we underestimated the risks of Terra,” he added — and turn the crisis into an opportunity.

Many firms operating in the crypto space from the United States and across the world have reported downsizing as trillions of dollars have vanished from the market in the last 30 days. Coinbase, Gemini, and Crypto.com announced that between 5-20% of their workers would be cut amid the bear market, while Kraken said it would continue hiring for more than 500 roles in various departments.

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Along with Kuna, Everstake is a Ukraine-based company in the crypto space that has coordinated with the local government to launch a crypto donation website aimed at military and humanitarian aid amid the conflict with Russia. Since the war began in February, the firm has helped accept more than $100 million in donations in the form of nonfungible tokens and major cryptocurrencies.