Blockchain.com said it is laying off 28% of its staff, or around 110 people.
Severance payouts are being offered to all affected workers.
Adding to a terrible week of carnage throughout the shattered cryptocurrency sector, cryptocurrency brokerage Blockchain.com said it is laying off 28% of its staff, or around 110 people.
About 150 employees lost their jobs in July as Blockchain.com dealt with a $270 million blow on loans it made to failing hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which contributed to the company’s current round of layoffs on Thursday.
Blockchain.com representative stated:
“The crypto ecosystem is facing significant headwinds as its course corrects from the challenges of the last year. To better balance product offerings with demand, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce operating costs and headcount to rightsize the company.”
Prolonged Crypto Winter Effect
Following word that Ethereum development company ConsenSys intends to fire off 100 or more employees, Blockchain’s losses have added to an already dismal week for the cryptocurrency industry. Since April of last year, the industry as a whole is predicted to have shed approximately 27,000 positions.
Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced layoffs of 20% of its workforce only days earlier as the sector continues to struggle through its prolonged winter.
There are currently 280 people working with Blockchain.com, up from 160 at the beginning of 2021. Severance payouts are being offered to all affected workers, the business said, but the specifics may differ by location.
On the other hand, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the industry, Binance, said this week that it anticipates increasing its workforce by 15% to 30% in 2023, after the addition of over 5,000 new staff in 2022.