Near Foundation, the creator of the layer-1 protocol bearing its name, has declared a workforce reduction of 40%, aiming to streamline its core team for a more focused approach to high-impact activities. The decision involves the termination of 35 employees from the marketing, business development, and community teams, prompted by feedback indicating the foundation’s occasional inefficiency and attempting to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.
The foundation assures that it will extend support to the affected colleagues during this transitional period, aiding them in exploring new opportunities within the NEAR ecosystem, the broader Web3 industry, and other fields.
“The NEAR Foundation will provide support to affected colleagues during this time to help them find new opportunities in the NEAR ecosystem, the Web3 industry, and beyond.”
Interestingly, despite these layoffs, Near Foundation’s financial standing remains robust. Presently, its treasury encompasses over $285 million in fiat currencies, 305 million NEAR tokens (equivalent to over $1 billion), and $70 million in investments and loans.
CEO Illia Polosukhin expressed confidence in the foundation’s ability to sustain the ongoing growth, development, and increased decentralisation of the Near Protocol and its ecosystem.
Notably, on September 21, 2023, Near Foundation announced the resignation of its then-CEO, Marieke Flament, without specifying the reasons for her departure. During Flament’s tenure from 2021 to 2023, the organisation’s treasury balance surged to 330 million NEAR, valued at $350 million at the time of her resignation. Concurrently, Near Protocol’s daily active user count soared from 50,000 to 3 million, and its Twitter followers surged from 200,000 to over 2 million, accompanied by more than 2,000 instances of press coverage.