Canadian fintech giant Wealthsimple, which is based in Toronto, is laying off 159 employees, a decision that was announced in a letter to employees by CEO and co-founder Michael Katchen.
Wealthsimple is an online investment management service that offers several services, including a platform that allows users to buy and sell various individual stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on major Canadian and U.S. exchanges. The company also has a platform for buying and selling several cryptocurrencies, including BTC and ETH.
Katchen said that the company’s customers are “are living through a period of market uncertainty they have never experienced before.”
He further stated that the market shift will ensure that the company focus more on core businesses such as investing and banking, as well as crypto. The company hopes to scale back its efforts in areas such as peer-to-peer payments, tax and merchants services.
Before the announcement to lay off some employees, the company issued a hiring freeze. Prior to its layoff decision, the company had 1,262 employees.