Employment Crisis in Crypto Industry Despite Bitcoin’s Rise

At least fourteen companies, including Coinbase, Gemini, Digital Currency Group, ConsenSys, and Blockchain.com, announced staff reductions during the month of December, making it a difficult time for crypto employees.

At least 2,900 crypto workers lost their jobs in January across 14 different crypto companies as part of the cost-cutting measures taken by the cryptocurrency industry in the first month of 2023.

Prime Trust, a provider of cryptographic infrastructure, has reportedly become the most recent company to initiate layoffs. According to reports, the company has reduced the number of employees it employs by a third.

Given that Prime listed 312 employees on LinkedIn at the time this article was written, the reduction would result in a loss of approximately one hundred staff members, according to estimates.

According to a report published on January 27 by Bloomberg, thirty employees of the cryptocurrency platform Matrixport were terminated. Earlier on January 23, a report published by The Information stated that approximately one hundred employees of the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini were let go. Other recent layoffs occurred over the past few days as well.

The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase carried out the most significant staff reduction of the month on January 10, when it let go of approximately 950 employees. This was the most considerable staff reduction of the month.

Its competitors, Crypto.com, Luno, and Huobi, all followed suit by laying off approximately 500, 330, and 320 employees, respectively.

As the company works its way through a financial crisis, the beleaguered cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its subsidiaries also experienced significant layoffs, with 485 employees losing their jobs in the month of January alone.

The most significant number of people lost their jobs at DCG-owned Luno, while the company itself laid off 66 workers, its subsidiary lending platform Genesis eliminated 63 positions, and its asset management firm HQ Digital went out of business, which affected 26 employees.

To round out the list, the cryptocurrency bank Silvergate let go of 200 members of its staff, the Blockchain.com exchange laid off 110 employees, and the parent company of MetaMask, ConsenSys, fired 96 employees.

While this was going on, the nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace SuperRare had to let go of twenty members of its staff.

Despite Bitcoin’s (BTC) impressive performance during the month, which saw its price reach nearly $25,000 as institutional demand continued to rise, staff reductions were implemented.

However, these massive layoffs in the cryptocurrency industry were not isolated events. Just four companies—Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce—were responsible for laying off approximately 48,000 employees in the month of January alone.

Pantera Capital, a cryptocurrency hedge fund, believes that there has never been a better time to start a blockchain company, claiming that bear markets provide “less noise and distraction from building.” While some people may believe that there is more gloom ahead, Pantera Capital believes that there has never been a better time to start a blockchain company.

Crypto crypto firms Crypto Industry cryptocurrency cryptocurrency news