Bittrex, Chainalysis & Protocol Labs Decides to Layoff Staff Amid Ongoing Crypto Winter

The news surrounding mass layoffs is very common to hear amid ongoing crypto winter. Now comes the turn of crypto exchange Biitrex, blockchain data firm Chainalysis and open-source software laboratory Protocol Labs, with almost 44, 83 and 89 jobs cut down. 

In a blog post on February 3, 2023, CEO of Protocol Labs, Juan Benet, confirmed the jobs slash. Under head “Focusing our strategy to weather crypto winter,” the chief states that this was due to an “extremely challenging economic downturn.” Also high inflation resulting in soaring interest rates, low investment, and harsh market situations have made each company and industry suffer.

The PLGO teams (PL Corp, PL Member Services, Network Goods, PL Outercore, and PL Starfleet) are impacted due to the deduction of nearly 89 jobs (almost 21%) from the entity’s manpower. In a blog, Benet wrote that these downturns and our teams have somewhere able to reduce costs with projects and services on the go. 

Another crypto titan Crypto.com’s CEO and co-founder Kris Marszalek, laid off almost 20% from its global manpower in mid-January 2023, due to “recent industry events” and extended crypto winter. This round of layoff came after June 2022, in which they shattered 5% of staff, which was nearly 260 jobs. 

According to Forbes, Chainalysis announced to lay off almost 44 out of 900 employees, accounting for 4.8% of its manpower. Firm’s Director of communication, Maddie Kennedy recently noted a “reorganization” of less than 5% from their staff. She remarked that few of them are shifted to new roles with some at “primary in sales’ are slashed out. 

Private-sector clients include investment company BNY Mellon and Robinhood, an online brokerage firm. The crypto forensic firm Chainalysis also has been a government entity centric earlier, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, making almost 60% of its sales. 

According to media reports, almost 2,900 crypto jobs in over 14 crypto companies were slashed in the first of 2023 alone. The largest layoff from manpower was in crypto exchange Coinbase, which declined its staff from 950 in total on January 10, 2023. Its competitors, for example, Huobi and Luno, reduced 320 and 330 employees respectively. 

CEO of Bittrex, Richie Lai informed its employees on February 1, 2023, that the company has decided to lay off few staff due to “ensure the long-term viability’ of the firm. 

He also states in an email to staff that “the market downturn triggered by multiple failures in the crypto ecosystem became an outright collapse by the end of the year. These events have caused us to reset our strategy and balance our investments with the new economic environment in which we find ourselves.”

Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.

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