Adding to a terrible week of bloodletting across the shattered cryptocurrency industry, cryptocurrency brokerage Blockchain.com announced it is laying off 28% of its workforce, or around 110 employees.
Following the forced layoffs of roughly 150 employees in July as Blockchain.com dealt with a $270 million blow on loans it made to the defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, the company announced job cuts on Thursday. A Blockchain.com spokesperson wrote in an email that says:
“The crypto ecosystem is facing significant headwinds as its course corrects from the challenges of the last year,” a Blockchain.com spokesperson wrote via email. “To better balance product offerings with demand, we’ve made the difficult decision to reduce operating costs and headcount to rightsize the company."
Blockchain's losses come on the heels of a bleak week for the cryptocurrency market, which saw the U.S. exchange Coinbase disclose job layoffs totaling 20% of its workforce, or around 950 positions, and Ethereum development company ConsenSys reveal intentions to lay off at least 100 employees. According to CoinDesk, the industry has shed close to 27,000 employees since April of last year.
From 160 employees at the beginning of 2021, Blockchain.com today employs 280 people. According to the corporation, all affected employees are receiving severance payouts, the specifics of which differ by jurisdiction.
