Nigerian Crypto Exchange Quidax Cuts Staff As It Shifts Deeper Into B2B

Quidax, a Nigerian cryptocurrency startup that runs a digital asset trading platform, has laid off employees across several teams as it trims costs and leans more heavily into business-to-business products.

The company, founded in 2017 by Buchi Okoro, Uzo Awili, and Morris Ebieroma, allows users and developers to buy, sell, store, and list digital tokens. Several Quidax employees say the company has more than 100 staff, though Quidax has not publicly confirmed its current headcount.

According to multiple former employees with direct knowledge of the situation, Quidax terminated staff across sales, design, and operations teams. The announcement was made during a company-wide all-hands meeting on the morning of Monday, March 2, 2026, where leadership told staff that headcount was being reduced for performance-related reasons.

One affected employee said that after the meeting they were contacted by the company’s People and Culture team, informed that their contract had been terminated, and asked to return company work tools. Quidax paid affected workers their February salary and provided one month of pay as severance, according to people familiar with the package.

Former staff told TechCabal that management framed the decision as a performance-driven move based on data from an internal performance tracking app, with the company saying it was letting go of the lowest performers. One ex-employee said the criteria were not clearly explained and described the process as confusing, with little information shared beyond a verbal notice on the morning of the layoffs.

Quidax did not respond to email requests for comment on the job cuts, including questions about how many people were affected or detailed information on which teams were impacted.

The layoffs follow a series of visible strategic changes at Quidax. In January, the startup shut down its peer-to-peer (P2P) trading feature, which had allowed users to trade cryptocurrencies directly with each other. Since then, Quidax has partnered with Lisk, a Swiss blockchain company, to support developers and provide infrastructure for building on-chain financial products.

Taken together, the job cuts and recent product moves point to a deeper pivot toward infrastructure and B2B offerings. Quidax is leaning into enterprise crypto payments and related services, and has continued hiring for sales roles tied specifically to these B2B products even as overall headcount falls.

The startup’s evolution reflects broader pressures on crypto businesses whose revenues are closely linked to trading activity. When trading volumes slow, these firms often face trade-offs between cutting costs, automating operations, or restructuring teams in order to extend runway and focus on more sustainable revenue streams.

Quidax has raised about $3.6 million since its launch, according to data from Crunchbase, including a $3 million raise from the public sale of its QDX token in 2021. The company previously cut staff in November 2022, when it reportedly laid off around 20% of its workforce—about 20 employees—citing unfavourable macroeconomic conditions and turbulence in the global crypto market. At the time, management described that decision as a proactive step to navigate a sector-wide downturn driven by falling crypto prices.

The latest cuts place Quidax among several African crypto startups reshaping their teams and strategies in response to market realities. Zap Africa, another crypto-focused company, reduced its workforce by 44% in February, slashing roles across design, operations, marketing, and support as it moved toward a leaner, AI-driven operating model. Zap Africa said its restructuring was designed to better align operating costs with revenue-generating activities as crypto trading volumes slowed.

In this environment, Quidax’s decision to double down on B2B partnerships and enterprise-focused infrastructure marks a significant recalibration of its business. How well that pivot holds up in a still-volatile crypto market is likely to shape the company’s next phase.