Crypto.com Slashes Jobs as Industry Struggles Continue

Crypto.com has announced that it will be reducing its global workforce by approximately 20%. By Blockhead estimates, this equates to around 1,000 staff.

In a letter posted on its website on Friday, co-founder and CEO Kris Marszalek said that the decision was made due to "ongoing economic headwinds and unforeseeable industry events, including the collapse of FTX," which has damaged trust in the industry.

"The reductions we made last July positioned us to weather the macro economic downturn, but it did not account for the recent collapse of FTX, which significantly damaged trust in the industry," Marszalek said.

Marszalek said additional reductions were required to "position the company for long-term success" and is working on restoring trust in the industry and mainstreaming its services in markets globally.

Founded in 2016, the Singapore-headquartered exchange has 70 million users on the platform. However, the company, like many others in the crypto space, has had a 2022, laying off 5% of its workforce, or 260 employees, in June. Decrypt later reported that the exchange engaged in a second round of layoffs, which is said to be worse than in June.

The company is not alone in its struggles amid the ongoing crypto winter – earlier this week, Blockhead reported on other layoffs across the crypto industry, with MetaMask developer Consensys and crypto exchange Coinbase the latest to join a slew of key industry players rushing to free up funds by cutting labour. Consensys is letting go of 100 employees, while Coinbase is axing 20% of its workforce, or about 950 staff.

Data compiled by Coindesk indicates that more than 28,000 crypto jobs have been lost since April 2022.

Crypto.com received an in-principle approval from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) for its Major Payment Institution License in June 2022. It also brought on board ex-government official Chin Tah Ang as its general manager in its Little Red Dot headquarters in August.

More recently, Crypto.com named Eric Anziani as the exchange’s president, in addition to his current role as chief operating officer.