Blockchain.com is the latest crypto business to lay off employees. The exchange will lay off around 150 employees, or 25% of its workforce, reverting personnel levels to January 2022. In addition, executive wages and CEO remuneration will be decreased.
The business said that the decision was made due to severe bear market circumstances and the necessity to absorb financial losses resulting from Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC) demise. Due to loans to the fund, the exchange has a $270 million deficit.
Blockchain.com is also rescinding development ambitions, notably in South America, as part of the reductions. CEO Peter Smith described last year as one of crypto’s most significant growth prospects over the next decade. The business bought the Argentinian crypto investing platform SeSocio late in 2017 and announced ambitions to have a physical presence in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico.
Blockchain co-founder and CEO Peter Smith. Pedro Fiúza | NurPhoto via Getty Images
The corporation presently reports that the most active demand comes from Europe, the United States, and Africa. It will terminate its operations in Argentina and abandon growth ambitions in many nations. Almost half of the staff laid off are from Argentina. The remaining 26% are American, and 16% are British.
It will also reduce its institutional loan business, cease any merger and acquisition (M&A) activities, delay the development of its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, and discontinue its gaming ventures.
In March of this year, after a Series D investment round at a $14 billion valuation that produced an unknown amount of money, the cryptocurrency corporation entered the ranks of the decacorns, a word denoting companies worth more than $10 billion. At least a portion of the earnings from this round will be utilised to compensate for the gap caused by 3AC. There were rumours in April that the business intended to go public this year.
Other prominent crypto firms are also continuing to reduce their workforces, with many of these reductions occurring in the wake of massive recruiting campaigns over the previous 12 months. Coinbase said last month that it had overhired and cut off more than 18% of its workforce. Additionally, OpenSea laid off 20% of its workers last week. Among others, layoffs have occurred at Gemini, Bitso, Bybit, Rain Financial, and Brazil-based 2TM.