Finder workers sacked after crypto loss: Staff shocked
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Rich Lister and self-proclaimed ‘king of cryptocurrencies’ are forced to lay off workers at their Finder company after losing heavily in digital currencies
- Finder lays off 15 percent of the workforce
- Founded by ‘king of cryptocurrency’ Fred Schebesta
- He recently lost a lot after investing in cryptocurrencies
Australian tech company Finder has been forced to retire 15 per cent of its workforce, with contractors, freelancers and full-time permanent workers all affected.
The company, founded by self-proclaimed ‘king of cryptocurrency’ Fred Schebesta, announced the news to staff yesterday afternoon.
One of the staff members affected by the cuts, videographer Tobias Venus, said he had been “abruptly” fired after working for the company for more than four years.
Finder was founded by the ‘king of cryptocurrencies’ Fred Schebesta
“I (and many others) am redundant in Finder today,” Venus wrote on Twitter.
“I’ve been at Finder for over 4 years and to be fired so abruptly is quite frankly devastating and a bit of a shock because it really came out of nowhere.”
A Finder spokesman said about 15 percent of the jobs will be created at the company.
“Our immediate priority as a company is to support the affected crew,”
We will continue to do all we can, including career, wellness and financial support, to help anyone who leaves Finder thrive in what comes next.
“We remain firmly focused on future growth of the comparison business in our core markets and building our membership proposition.”
Last August, Schebesta admitted that he had lost “quite a bit of money after the Luna/Terra cryptocurrency crash.”
“In the recent Luna accident, I lost quite a bit of money,” Schebesta said.
“I didn’t feel good about it, I even questioned my ability to invest in crypto.”
He had previously claimed that Terra was a “beast to be reckoned with” and was among his top investment options.
The staff cuts come after Finder posted a comprehensive loss of $27 million for fiscal 2022. The previous year it posted a profit of $1.6 million.
In December, ASIC initiated civil penalty proceedings in Federal Court against the company for allegedly providing financial services without a license.
The market regulator claims that Finder offered a product called Finder Earn between February and November of last year, which essentially acted as an obligation.
Clients deposited Australian dollars into their accounts, which became ‘stablecoins’.
Finder Earn then used this money as its own working capital, paying clients a return of between 4 and 6 percent.
The Finder Earn product was shut down last month, after the company claimed that rising interest rates made it less attractive to investors.