ConsenSys Joins Crypto Layoffs with 11% Workforce Cut

ConsenSys, a cryptocurrency software company, has confirmed its plans to cut 11% of its current workforce, which translates to almost 100 positions. Joseph Lubin, the CEO of the company, announced the planned changes on Wednesday.

ConsenSys to Cut its Workforce

The collapse of Terra in May and FTX in November caused the entire crypto ecosystem to suffer, affecting many cryptocurrency firms, including ConsenSys. Now, the company wants to focus on its core business, cut operating costs and increase efficiency.

"Today we need to make the extremely difficult decision to streamline some of ConsenSys' teams to adjust to challenging and uncertain market conditions. This decision will impact 96 employees, which represents 11% of ConsenSys' total workforce. We are extremely grateful for their contributions and the work they've accomplished. Each of the impacted employees will be notified today by their manager," Lubin commented in a letter published on the company's blog.

The New York company is the leading investor behind popular Ethereum-based platforms, including the popular MetaMask cryptocurrency wallet. In the coming months, it wants to focus mainly on the development and maintenance of MetaMask and Infuras' developer platforms.

"We will also pursue innovative new offerings to empower developers and creators to thrive in web3, grow web3 commerce and DAO communities, and amplify the decentralized identity and verifiable credentials ecosystems," Lubin added.

Watch the recent FMLS22 session on Forex and crypto trends in 2023.

A wave of Layoffs at Crypto Companies

Although Bitcoin has been doing surprisingly well at the start of 2023, the last year proved to be challenging for exchanges and cryptocurrency technology companies. Substantial declines in the valuation of major assets, combined with the high-profile bankruptcies of FTX and Terra, have triggered declining revenues and the need to cut costs.

Last week, Coinbase announced the layoff of 20% or about 950 people. The move is part of a restructuring strategy to be implemented by the end of the second quarter and will cost the company about $150 million.

Huobi, another popular cryptocurrency exchange, wants to cut its workforce by 20%. In the face of the current bear market, the platform intends to maintain "a very lean team."

Meanwhile, the Kraken digital assets exchange announced job cuts of more than 30% in November. Some 1,100 full-time positions are being cut "to adapt to current market conditions."

In an interview with Finance Magnates, Dr Christopher Smithmyer, an Adjunct Professor at Doane University, a private university in Nebraska, blamed the crypto companies for not preparing for the bear market properly. He believes that crypto winter is a great way to assess particular platforms' real strengths and show which are the weakest.