Summary:
- The South Korean crypto firm will fire 100 employees by Friday as the platform faces uncertain times, Haru Invest CEO Lee Hyung-soo said on a video call.
- Haru Invest paused withdrawals earlier this month and evacuated its office due to an “internal situation”, per CoinDesk Korea.
- Co-founder Eunkwang Joo tweeted that the crypto yield startup is not “maliciously trying to do a rug pull” amid concerns about the company’s sudden halt in operations.
According to a CoinDesk Korea report on Thursday, Haru Invest is set to remove 100 workers from its payroll by Friday, June 23.
Haru Invest is a crypto yield platform based in South Korea that allows users to earn interest on their digital assets. Earlier this month, the startup suspended customer withdrawals due to a problem with its service partners.
100 Haru Invest Employees Laid Off
CEO Lee Hyung-soo reportedly shared the news about layoffs via a video call with employees. “I made that decision,” Lee told staff this week. “Due to the recent situation, normal company management is difficult,” Lee added about the ongoing trouble at Haru Invest.
A blog post from June 20 also stated the company plans to cooperate with customers pursuing legal action against the South Korean platform. Haru Invest also plans to sue B&S Holdings for fraud among other allegations, suggesting that the problem might have originated from the holding company.
We are pursuing legal action against B&S Holdings for fraud, embezzlement, and other allegations. In the course of these legal actions, we are also gathering facts, including determining the extent of the damage. We will share relevant information based on our fact-finding at the appropriate time.
Due to safety concerns after Haru Invest paused operations, the company’s office was left empty as CEO Lee directed workers to work from home.
Co-founder Eunkwang Joo tweeted to alleviate growing concerns and debunk rumors that the company was about to rug-pull users. Rug pulls refer to when projects or startups market a product to investors and disappear with the proceeds without delivering on their promise. The company joined a long list of crypto firms that have paused withdrawals.