By Charles Lefebvre

BitFury lays off more employees at Hut 8 facilities in Alberta

Apr 4, 2019 | 3:06 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB —A company which runs bitcoin mining operations in southern Alberta has announced another round of layoffs.

Sarah Rieger with CBC reported on Thursday that Hut 8 and Bitfury, who are partners on the cryptocurrency mining labs in both communities, have completed a second round of layoffs this year.

The company previously laid off employees in January.

Hut 8 CEO Andrew Kiguel wrote in an email to CHAT News that the decisions for the layoff were made by BitFury.

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“While Hut 8 owns the facilities, they are operated on our behalf by Bitfury,” the email reads. “Hut 8 does not employee (sic) anyone in Medicine Hat, all employees are employed by Bitfury so staffing decisions are made by them. My understanding is that 4 Bitfury employees were let go this week as part of a decision to streamline operations.”

Kiguel says Hut 8 plans to continue owning the facility, with ButFury managing the operations.

CHAT News has reached out to Bitfury for comment, who provided us with a statement Thursday afternoon.

“As Bitfury grows, we are constantly evaluating ways to better empower our company to perform efficiently – in 2019 and beyond,” the statement reads. “At our core, we always strive to deliver the best results under the most favorable conditions. As part of those efforts, we are streamlining our operations in order to help us advance strategic plans to develop innovative software and hardware solutions and focus on other emerging technologies. This week’s actions reflect those efforts. This decision will enable us to lead the company into our next chapter of growth. We sincerely appreciate everything our team members have helped us accomplish.”

When asked about how many employees were laid off, the company said they were unable to confirm those numbers.

The price of bitcoin has dropped significantly in the past two years. In December 2017, bitcoin reached a high of $24,643.80 Canadian. By the end of trading on Thursday, one bitcoin was worth 6,478.26 Canadian.