The cryptocurrencies industry has shed over 2,000 jobs in the first 2 months of 2023, a new analysis by Bloomberg shows.
Leading crypto exchange, Coinbase, is one of the most affected saying that more layoffs could be on the horizon despite already implementing the biggest layoffs in the cryptocurrency sector in 2023, when it decreased its staff by 20%, approximately 950 employees, on January 10 2023.
Besides Coinbase, other exchanges have also trimmed down their workforce in the last 2 months, including Huobi, Gemini and Luno.
The South African exchange, Luno, laid off 66 employees in January 2023, as parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) was also rocked by a liquidity problems.
Exchanges heavily rely on retail trading for their revenue but there has been a slow uptake in this area following a series of failures and scandals that hit the industry in 2022.
Its not just exchanges that are cutting jobs. In early February 2023, Chainalysis – a firm that specializes in tracking digital-asset transactions and counts Singapore’s GIC among its investors – announced job cuts. Additionally, CoinDesk has reported that crypto research firm, Messari, has reduced its workforce by 15%.
Below is a list of some of the crypto job cuts announced or reported in various sources so far in 2023:
- Blockchain analytics firm, Elliptic, is laying off 20 employees or about 10% of its staff, DL News has reported
- The crypto data and exchange platform, Messari, has cut 15% of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort, according to CoinDesk
- Blockchian analytics firm, Nansen, reduces its team by 30% citing a ‘brutal’ crypto market
- Immutable, an Australia-based blockchain-gaming firm has made layoffs affecting 11% of staff, according to The Sydney Morning Herald
- Polygon Labs, the main operator of Polygon blockchain, announced that it has let go of around 100 employees, or 20% of its workforce, as part of a consolidation of business units
- GSR, one of the oldest market makers in crypto, eliminated about 20 positions in January 2023, the second round of job cuts at the firm
- Non-fungible token marketplace, Magic Eden, announced that it has cut 22 roles as part of a ‘company-wide restructuring’
- Protocol Labs, the company behind decentralized file storage network,Filecoin, announced in a blog post that it will cut 89 roles across several teams or 21% of its staff
- Digital-asset lender, Matrixport, is shedding 10% of its 300-strong workforce
- Luno, the crypto exchange owned by Digital Currency Group, announced that it is reducing its workforce by about 35%
- Bitcoin Suisse, a digital-asset investment firm, has reportedly laid off some positions, though the exact number is undisclosed
- Blockchain.com is letting go of 28% of its workforce or about 110 employees
- In January 2023, Coinbase announced a reduction of about 950 employees or 20% of its workforce
- Ethereum software company, ConsenSys, confirmed that it’s eliminating 96 positions, representing 11% of the crypto firm’s total workforce
- Crypto.com said it laid off about 20% of its global workforce
- Gemini Trust eliminated another 10% of its workforce in 2023
- Brokerage Genesis Global Trading laid off more than 60 employees, or about 30 per cent of its workforce, on Jan 5.
- OSL, the digital-assets platform backed by Fidelity International, is cutting costs by about a third, including a ‘headcount reduction’
- Digital asset manager, Osprey Funds, has laid off 15 employees and is currently operating with fewer than 10 employees, CryptoDaily reported
- Crypto services company, Prime Trust, laid off about one-third of its staff late in January 2023, largely in communications and compliance, CoinDesk reported
- Crypto-friendly bank, Silvergate Capital, said in January 2023 that its reducing headcount by about 200 people
- Non-fungible token marketplace, SuperRare, reduced staff by about 30% in January 2023, according to a tweet from CEO, John Crain
- Crypto exchange, Huobi, said it’s planning to cut 20% of its workforce, according to a statement in January 2023
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