The crypto winter has claimed another ‘victim’ with Blockchain.com cutting 25% of its workforce.
The news was first reported by CoinDesk, and London-headquartered Blockchain.com hasn’t responded at the time of writing to an email from eWeek UK.
The cuts equate to about 150 people, and the crypto exchange pointed to the tough bear market conditions. Blockchain.com exchange recently revealed it was dealing with a $270 million ($226 million) shortfall from lending to beleaguered hedge fund Three Arrows Capital in Singapore.
The fintech firm will close its Argentina-based offices and cancel team expansion plans in several countries. Some 44% of the affected employees are in Argentina, 26% in the US, 16% in the UK and the rest in other countries.
Blockchain.com is not alone in facing difficult times. It is a fluid situation, and eWeek UK recently discussed the crypto winter here. For example, US cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital has filed for bankruptcy protection, blaming the move on “volatility and contagion” in the markets. Crypto lending platform Celsius has also filed for bankruptcy in the US. The price of Bitcoin currently stands at £19,759, a fall of 23% over the last six months.
- Will the Crypto Winter Be Different This Time? Read the analysis here
Over the last 16 months, Blockchain.com grew from 150 employees to more than 600. (On LinkedIn, it has 1,014 employees listed.)
The firm, which works with consumers and institutions, reckons its fundraising efforts will absorb the financial impact from the collapse of Three Arrows Capital. It was in March when Blockchain.com secured undisclosed new funding to give it a $14 billion (£11.7 billion) valuation.
Blockchain.com explains that it’s shrinking its institutional lending business, halting all mergers and acquisitions, placing a pause on efforts to expand gaming and slowing its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.
Executive salaries and CEO compensation are also being reduced, the company representative told CoinDesk. Consumer revenue remains “active and strong”, while institutional revenue is “flat and will need time to recover”.
Despite the job cuts, Blockchain.com’s Careers page still has a lot of open positions. It didn’t respond to eWeek UK’s query as to whether those roles are still valid.
(CoinDesk is owned by Digital Currency Group, a US-based venture capital company focusing on the digital currency market.)
