- Blockchain.com and Crypto.com have announced further layoffs, adding to a week of woe for crypto jobs
- Coinbase and Consensys also announced operational reductions this week
- Crypto.com’s CEO hinted at a longer bear market due to the impact of FTX
Bitcoin may be showing signs of life, but that hasn’t helped the wider crypto market, as Blockchain.com and Crypto.com announced double-digit job cuts just hours apart to add to the raft of closed positions this month. Both companies announced 28% and 20% cuts respectively, adding to cuts from Coinbase and ConsenSys announced this week and continuing a trend that suggests that the worst may not yet be over for the crypto sector.
Both Companies Cut Staff Last Year
Blockchain.com was first of the latest two to announce its job cuts, shedding 110 positions yesterday, which followed a 150-strong reduction in July last year. The company has had to write off $270 million in loans it made to failed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, and also blamed “significant headwinds” facing the crypto sector following the “challenges” of the past year.
In an email to Coindesk, a Blockchain.com representative said that it had made the cuts to reduce operating costs and headcount to “rightsize the company.”
Crypto.com’s announcement came in the early hours of this morning, with the company culling a fifth of its workforce, again following a prior cut back in July. In a tweet thread announcing the unfortunate news, CEO Kris Marszalek said “market conditions and recent industry events have made this the right decision for the company at this time”, while a more in-depth update blamed the “ongoing economic headwinds and unforeseeable industry events”.
Today we announced the difficult decision to reduce our global workforce by about 20%.
— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) January 13, 2023
Marszalek stated that the initial round of cuts in July had put them in a position to weather what the company thought was coming, but the collapse of FTX “significantly damaged trust in the industry”. This suggests that Marszalek believes the damage to the crypto sector has been much deeper than is caused by the usual bear market price collapse, and recovery will take longer as a result.
Crypto Winter Shows Not Signs of Letting Up
Blockchain.com and Crypto.com’s joint cuts come in the same week that Coinbase closed its Japan operation as part of a 950-strong workforce reduction and Consensys announced plans to cut 100 jobs to cope with the crypto winter.
Hold onto your hats folks, it’s going to be a long one.
