Crypto Firm Anchorage Digital to Lay Off 20% of Staff Citing US Regulatory Uncertainty – Here's What You Need to Know

cryptonews.com:

Anchorage Digital, a crypto bank based in San Francisco, is making substantial staff cuts in response to the current downturn in the crypto market and regulatory uncertainty in the United States. 

According to Bloomberg, the company is laying off 75 employees, or roughly 20% of its workforce. 

In a statement, Anchorage Digital cited a range of factors, including the volatile state of the crypto market, broader macroeconomic challenges, and the unclear regulatory landscape in the US.

The company said,

"The need for better crypto infrastructure is growing ever clearer. For us, that means focusing resolutely on our status as an unequivocal qualified custodian, among other safe and regulated ways for institutions to participate in the digital asset ecosystem."  

While Anchorage is a federally chartered crypto bank, it has faced issues with US regulators. 

Less than a year ago, in April 2022, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency argued that the bank’s compliance program lacked staff and internal processes, including money-laundering controls, to verify customers in 2021. 

Therefore, it claimed, the bank failed to put in place key controls to prevent money laundering and report suspicious transactions.

Meanwhile, in June last year, Anchorage Digital announced that it had integrated with Binance.US and gained commitments from crypto platforms CoinList, Blockchain.com, Strix Leviathan, and Wintermute in its efforts to build a custody exchange network.

The financial services startup is just one in a long series of crypto industry companies slashing staff, citing the same reasons. 

For example, in November last year, crypto exchange Kraken announced a major job cut, laying off 30% of its workforce, or 1,100 people, in an attempt to