January was a rough ride for some of the folks in the crypto world, with a whole bunch of companies announcing staff cuts. In 2023, cryptocurrency firms tightened their purse strings in the first month, with at least 2,900 crypto employees laid off across 14 crypto enterprises.
The latest in the line of layoffs is Prime Trust, which reportedly reduced its employee count by a third. That’s like 100 people saying goodbye to their cubicles! Other recent cuts include 30 staff from Matrix Port and 100 from Gemini. However, January saw the largest staff layoff in the crypto exchange Coinbase, which said goodbye to a whopping 950 employees on Jan 10.
https://twitter.com/Melt_Dem/status/1536448876131016707
Some Other Significant Layoffs
The crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group and its subsidiaries also faced significant layoffs with a total of 485 workers getting the boot. Meanwhile, Silvergate said goodbye to 200 members of staff, Blockchain.com cut 110 employees, and ConsenSys terminated 96 staff.
Apart from that, around 20 staff members were also let go from the NFT marketplace SuperRare. Although, it’s not just the crypto industry that’s feeling the heat, as around 48,000 people were let go from just four companies: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce in January itself.
And, these laid-offs were made even after the strong performance of Bitcoin at a solid $25,000! But despite all the gloom and doom, crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital believes this is the best time ever to start a blockchain company. After all, bear markets mean “less noise and distraction from building”. So, chin up, crypto enthusiasts, better times might be ahead!
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