Crypto Firms Cut Nearly 3,000 Jobs in January Despite Bitcoin’s Rise

Crypto companies tightened their purse strings in the first month of 2023, with at least 2,900 crypto employees released at 14 crypto companies in January.

The latest company to make layoffs is crypto infrastructure provider Prime Trust, which has cut its number of employees by a third according to reports.

The reduction would amount to around 100 employees cut, as Prime had 312 employees on LinkedIn at the time of writing.

Other recent cuts over the past few days include 30 employees at crypto platform Matrixport who were laid off according to a January 27 Bloomberg. reportwhile a January 23 earlier report from The Information said that around 100 employees have been laid off from crypto exchange Gemini.

The biggest staff layoff for the month of January was initiated by the crypto exchange Coinbase which reduced its workforce by approximately 950 employees on January 10.

His peers exchange Crypto.comMoon and Houobi dragged on with reductions of around 500, 330 and 320 employees respectively.

Struggling crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) and its subsidiaries alike seen significant layoffs with 485 workers laid off in January alone as the company navigates a financial crisis.

DCG-owned Luno saw the most layoffs, while DCG itself cut 66 employees, its loan subsidiary Genesis cut 63 jobs and its asset management company HQ Digital closed, affecting 26 jobs.

Related: Crypto hiring managers reveal safest jobs during layoff season

To complete the list, 200 employees let go of the crypto bank Silvergate, the 110 employees cut of the Blockchain.com exchange and the 96 employees made redundant from MetaMask’s parent company, ConsenSys.

Meanwhile, 20 staff members have been dismissed from the SuperRare Non-Fungible Token (NFT) market.

These staff reductions came despite Bitcoin (BTC) performance during the monthtargeting nearly $25,000 as institutional demand continued to rise.

However, the large-scale crypto industry layoffs were not isolated. About 48,000 people in January alone have been give up just four companies: Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and Salesforce.

While some may believe there is more gloom to come, crypto hedge fund Pantera Capital thinks there is never been a better time to start a blockchain company claiming that bear markets provide “less construction noise and distraction.”