Top Crypto Firms That Laid Off Staff Recently

blockchain.news:

The crypto industry has witnessed a massive downturn, losing about $2 trillion in value since hitting a peak in November.

Several crypto exchanges are struggling following the Federal Reserve's increase in interest rates to curb inflation earlier this year. 

Since investors have begun to shun risky assets, including cryptocurrencies, major crypto companies such as Coinbase have announced layoffs of many employees. Coinbase had massively increased in size during the bull market.

Crypto companies in total have announced more than 1,800 job cuts since early June, according to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). The job cuts have created an atmosphere of uncertainty in the formerly growing crypto industry.

Some of the top companies that have executed layoffs in recent months are as follows:

Gemini

On June 2, Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss said through a blog post that the crypto exchange was laying off approximately 10% of its workforce.

Crypto.com

On June 10, Kris Marszalek, CEO of Crypto.com, said about 5% of its workforce would be part of the “targeted reductions”, or 260 jobs would be removed. 

During the crypto bull market, Crypto.com spent $700 million to put its name on the Los Angeles Lakers’ arena. The company also ran a Super Bowl ad featuring LeBron James.

BlockFi

On June 13, crypto trading and lending platform BlockFi said that it would reduce its staff members by 20%. The company cited the dramatic shift in the macroeconomic environment as the reason for the layoffs.

According to CEO Zac Prince's tweet thread announcing the layoffs, BlockFi had grown to over 850 in employees number in mid-June from about 150 at the end of 2020. 

BlockFi has struck a deal with crypto exchange FTX to sustain its