Crypto.com Follows Others In The Space, Lays Off 5% of Staff

CEO of Crypto.com Kris Marszalek announced in a tweet on Saturday, that the company will sadly be laying off 5% of its workforce, due to current downtrodden conditions in the market.

This equates to roughly 260 people, Marszalek details these layoffs as a "difficult and necessary" decision to "ensure continued and sustainable growth for the long term."

The CEO called on the community to remember the 2018-2019 crypto winter where the company's "focus on building" led to its success in 2020-2021.

At the time the price of Bitcoin fell a steep 65% from $20,000 in December 2017, to the right below $7,000 in February 2018.

“We will continue to evaluate how to best optimize our resources to position ourselves as the strongest builders during the down cycle to become the biggest winners during the next bull run,” Marszalek wrote.

The past six months have seen Crypto.com spend significantly on big-time marketing, spending $700 million to be the official crypto exchange of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, infamously having Matt Damon star in their Super Bowl commercial for $100 million, and another $700 million to puts its name on the former Staples Center of Los Angeles.

Crypto.com isn't alone in the laying off of some of its staff with Gemini laying off 10% of its workforce, and Coinbase going from a hiring freeze to a full-on rescinding of recently accepted job offers. In Latin America Bitso, Mexico's largest crypto exchange Bitso laid off 10% of its staff, as well as Buenbit from Argentina laid off a significant 45% of its employees.

These ripples have been caused by Bitcoin and the overall crypto market seemingly beginning to slide with Bitcoin down 65% from its all-time high of $68,789.63 in November of 2021 to $23,500.

The days ahead will not be easy for the market and its community members, but I would head all to remember the beginnings of this space and how so many of these narratives have already played out in the past.