Amid the mini bull run, massive layoffs between companies are still happening. Just in the past few weeks, a handful of crypto firms have reduced their workforce by a certain percentage, and the latest on the list today is Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, Crypto.com.
The company earlier today announced a global cut-off of its workforce, expressing how difficult it is to implement this decision. Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder & CEO of Crypto.com, said in a company update published Friday morning, “Today we made the difficult decision to reduce our global workforce by approximately 20%.”
Crypto.com Cuts Global Workforce By 20%
Since Crypto.com has between 3,500-4,500 employees, the 20% headcount reduction will impact around 700-900 employees. Per the company’s update, the decision to lay off workers has nothing to do with the company’s overall performance or stability. However, it’s more because of the adverse economic developments happening globally.
Kris mentioned that part of the company’s decision to reduce headcount includes the need to focus more on prudent financial management and to position the company for long-term success over time.
“We grew ambitiously at the start of 2022, building on our incredible momentum and aligning with the trajectory of the broader industry. That trajectory changed rapidly with a confluence of negative economic developments,” said Kris.
Notably, Crypto.com already saw a round of layoff middle of last year, but the company claimed today that its layoffs were done to position for the weathering of the macroeconomic downturn but was not related to the recent collapse of FTX.
“The reductions we made last July positioned us to weather the macroeconomic downturn, but it did not account for the recent collapse of FTX, which significantly damaged trust in the industry. It’s for this reason, as we continue to focus on prudent financial management, we made the difficult but necessary decision to make additional reductions in order to position the company for long-term success,” Kris concluded.
Rise In Massive Layoffs Continues
Crypto.com is not the only firm in the industry that has announced the reduction of its workforce. Companies such as Coinbase and crypto brokerage firm Blockchain.com have also cut down their workforce by nearly 50% combined.
Coinbase disclosed a round of workforce reduction on January 10, laying off 950 employees, which is about 20% of its workforce. “The entire industry is going through a crisis of confidence, and trading volume remains very weak. This job cut reflects the current challenging environment,” Oppenheimer analyst Owen Lau said.
Blockchain.com also announced the reduction of its workforce on January 12, letting go of 28% of its workforce or about 110 employees. “The crypto ecosystem is facing significant headwinds as it course corrects from the challenges of the last year,” said a Blockchain.com spokesperson. Adding, “To better balance product offerings with demand, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce operating costs and headcount to rightsize the company.”
While the workforce reduction keeps recurring between notable companies in the industry, the crypto market has moved in a bullish trend over the past weeks, with altcoins such as crypto.com token CRONOS or CRO also printing green charts.
At the time of writing, CRONOS is up by 3.3% in the last 24 hours, regardless of the workforce reduction. The token’s accumulated market capitalization is $1.6 billion, and currently has a 24-hour trading volume of $18.2 million.
