Crypto Retrenchment Persists With Over 2,000 Jobs Lost in 2023

The digital-assets industry has shed more than 2,000 jobs in the first two months of 2023, as companies continued to retrench even as crypto prices staged a partial recovery. 

US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. this week indicated that more layoffs could be in store, after cutting 20% of its workforce in January. Other trading venues including Crypto.com, Huobi Global, Gemini and Luno also announced job cuts in the past two months. Exchanges’ revenues are reliant on retail trading, which has been slow to pick up after a wave of failures and scandals ripped through the sector last year. 

Layoffs have been widespread among other types of crypto businesses too. Chainalysis, a company that specializes in tracking digital-asset transactions and counts Singapore’s among investors, in early February announced job cuts. Brevan Howard-backed researcher Messari has trimmed its workforce by 15%, CoinDesk has reported. 

Here are some of the crypto job cuts announced or reported so far in 2023:

Elliptic

Blockchain analytics firm Elliptic is laying off 20 employees or about 10% of its staff, DL News has reported.

Messari

The crypto data and exchange platform has cut 15% of its workforce as part of a restructuring effort, according to CoinDesk

Immutable

The Australia-based blockchain-gaming firm has made layoffs affecting 11% staff, according to The Sydney Morning Herald

Polygon Labs

The main operator of Polygon blockchain announced that it has let go around 100 employees, or 20% of its workforce, as part of a consolidation of business units.

One of the oldest market makers in crypto eliminated about 20 positions in January, the second round of job cuts at the firm.

The nonfungible token marketplace announced that it has cut 22 roles as part of a “company-wide restructuring.”

Protocol Labs 

The company behind decentralized file strorage network Filecoin announced in a blog post that it will cut 89 roles across several teams, or 21% of its staff.

Crypto exchange Bittrex has laid off more than 80 people, as reported by CoinDesk.

Chainlysis

The company known for its crypto transaction tracking services it made layoffs affecting less than 5% of its 900 employees.

Matrixport

The digital-asset lender is shedding 10% of its 300-strong workforce. 

The crypto exchange owned by Digital Currency Group announced that it is reducing about 35% of its workforce. 

Bitcoin Suisse AG

The digital-asset investment firm it has laid off some positions, but declined to give an exact number. A spokesperson said it was “substantially below” the industry average of about 30% of headcount. The company also streamlined its leadership: Chief Risk Officer Sven Ramspott also serves the finance chief role, duties held by Philipp Vonmoos, who’s leaving the company after five years.

Blockchain.com

Blockchain.com is letting go of 28% of its workforce, or about 110 employees. It cut about 150 roles last year. After the layoffs, the company’s headcount will stand at 280, up from 160 at the beginning of 2021.

Coinbase

On Jan. 10, COINBASE announced a reduction of about 950 employees, or 20% of its workforce. It’s closing most of its operations in Japan and shutting several projects. Last June, Coinbase laid off 18% of its workforce, the equivalent of roughly 1,100 employees, and it eliminated another 60 in November.

ConsenSys

Ethereum software company ConsenSys confirmed that it’s eliminating 96 positions, representing 11% of the crypto firm’s total workforce.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com said it laid off about 20% of its global workforce. That’s on top of layoffs in the middle of last year. CRYPTO.COM declined to provide the specific number of jobs eliminated in the latest round.

Gemini Trust Co. eliminated another 10% of its workforce. The firm remains pressured by a months-long crypto slump.

Genesis

Brokerage Genesis Global Trading Inc. laid off more than 60 employees, or about 30% of its workforce, on Jan. 5. Last August, the company eliminated 20% of its workforce.

The digital-assets platform backed by Fidelity International is cutting costs by about a third, including a “headcount reduction,” according to Hugh Madden, chief executive officer of OSL’s parent company BC Technology Group.

Osprey Funds

Digital asset manager Osprey Funds has laid off 15 employees and is currently operating with fewer than 10 employees, CryptoDaily reported.

Prime Trust

Crypto services company Prime Trust laid off about one-third of its staff late last month, largely in communications and compliance, CoinDesk reported.

Silvergate Capital

Crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital Corp. said in January it’s reducing headcount by about 200 people.

SuperRare

Nonfungible token marketplace SuperRare reduced staff by about 30% in January, according to a tweet from Chief Executive Officer John Crain.

Crypto exchange Huobi it’s planning to cut 20% of its workforce, according to a statement in January. The company has about 1,100 employees.