- Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger is reducing its workforce by 12% due to concerns about the broader economy’s impact on revenue generation
- Despite being a prominent player in the crypto wallet industry since 2016, Ledger has faced challenges in this bear market
- Ledger’s CEO, Pascal Gauthier, cited “macroeconomic headwinds” as reasons for the layoffs
Hardware wallet maker Ledger has announced that it is laying off 12% of its workforce citing concerns about the wider economy. The French company, which announced its new Stax wallet last year, revealed that it is finding it hard to “generate revenue” in the current financial climate, and as such it has resorted to reducing its overheads. The news comes just days after blockchain analysis firm Chainalysis cut its workforce due to the impact of the bear market and concerns about a bigger financial downturn impacting the crypto industry.
Ledger Wary of Economic Outlook
Ledger has been a mainstay in the crypto world since launching its first wallet in 2016, and although it has had its fair share of criticism the company has weathered two bear markets and still maintained its place as one of the most popular crypto wallet makers. It seems, however, that this particular bear market has been a particularly brutal one, leaving the likes of Ledger and Chainalysis taking steps to preserve their capital.
In a press release, Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier explained the rationale for the move and reassured customers that the cutbacks wouldn’t affect their products:
Macroeconomic headwinds are limiting our ability to generate revenue, and in response to the current market conditions and business realities, we must reduce roles across the global business. Sadly, this means we are making the difficult decision to reduce 12% of the roles at Ledger.
Gauthier also revealed that it was taking “taking longer than we expected” to get the Stax wallet to market, which will surprise those who didn’t realize it wasn’t for sale yet.
The recent uptrend in the crypto markets has got some excited that a bull market is imminent, but the recent jump obscures the fact that many financial experts are worried that 18 months of interest rate rises by central banks will lead to a global recession, something that the likes of Ledger and Chainalysis seem to be planning for.
