Chaos in Crypto: A timeline of layoffs in 2023

The year 2023 has brought with it a wave of job cuts that have hit companies hard, regardless of their size or geographic location. With the global economy reeling from the market uncertainties, thousands of employees are feeling the pinch of the downturn. 

The crypto industry is no exception to this trend. As the industry continues to stay afloat  following the meltdown of 2022, companies are re-evaluating their business models and strategies to be ahead of the competition. This means that a huge number of employees are being laid off by crypto companies as they attempt to streamline their operations.

We've put together a comprehensive list of crypto companies that have announced major layoffs so far in 2023.

In the latest round of layoffs, Dapper Labs has announced to slash 20% of its full-time staff. This round of layoff is aimed to restructure the organisation.

Founded in 2013, London-based blockchain analytics firm Elliptic is another company that has announced layoff in 2023. The company has reportedly laid off 10% of its staff.

Crypto technology firm Polygon Labs has reduced its team by 20%. The latest round of layoffs at the Polygon impacted multiple teams and about 100 positions.

As part of a restructuring effort of its internal team, crypto intelligence firm Messari, which is led by Ryan Selkis, has trimmed its workforce by 15%.

Australian crypto gaming company Immutable is also on the list of companies reducing its headcount. The company has announced slashing its workforce by 11%.

Crypto market maker and ecosystem partner GSR sacked its 20 employees in January. It was the second round of job cuts at the firm.

As part of a company-wide restructuring in the second week of February, NFT marketplace Magic Eden made the difficult decision to part ways with its 22 employees.

To focus its strategy to weather crypto winter Protocol Labs CEO Juan Benet announced its decision to reduce the workforce approximately by 21% (89 roles). This impacts individuals across PLGO teams (PL Corp, PL Member Services, Network Goods, PL Outercore, and PL Starfleet).

Crypto exchange Bittrex sacked more than 80 people, as part of its layoff strategy.

Blockchain analytics company Chainalysis reduced its headcount by 4.8% of its global workforce to adjust to challenges in the crypto market.

Singapore-based crypto investment firm Matrixport slashed 10% of its nearly 300-person workforce marketing department.

In view of the marketing turbulence, DCG-owned crypto exchange Luno axed 35% of its staff, the majority of them were from marketing department. According to the Linkedin profile of Luno, the company employs more than 900 people.

In the latest round of layoffs, The Zug-based crypto financial service provider Bitcoin Suisse has sacked an undisclosed number of employees.

In its third round of job cuts at Gemini within a year, the crypto exchange firm reduced its headcount by 10%.

In addition to the above mentioned companies, OSL, Osprey Funds, Prime Trust, Silvergate Capital , and SuperRare also eliminated their workforce in 2023.

In January this year, Coinbase Global Inc fired 950 employees as part of its restructuring plan.

To adjust to challenging and uncertain market conditions, ConsenSys’ CEO Joseph Lubin announced job cuts at the company in January this year. The decision impacted 96 employees, which represents 11% of ConsenSys’ total workforce.

Crypto.com reduced its global workforce by approximately 20% in January this year. According to Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder & CEO, several factors played into the decision to reduce headcount.

Cryptocurrency brokerage Blockchain.com shed 110 staffers in January.

The crypto bank has cut 40% of its staff, or 200 employees, in response to the economic realities faced by the company and the overall cryptocurrency industry.

Digital currency exchange firm Huobi laid off 20% of its workforce in January this year.