Crypto Layoffs Continue With BlockFi Cutting Staff By 20%

Crypto layoffs continue after Blockfi also decided to cut down on staff by 20% due to dramatic shifts in macroeconomic conditions across the world so let’s read more today in our cryptocurrency news.

BlockFi announced that it was cutting staff and becoming the latest company in the digital asset space to provide employees the chop amid the bearish market. The company said in a statemetn that it was reducing the workforce by 20% as crypto layoffs continue. BlockFi joined US crypto exchanges Gemini, Crypto.com, and Coinbase and a number of Latin American exchanges also announced layoffs.

BlockFi offers the customers high yield crypto accounts saying it was impacted by the dramatic shift in the macroeconomic conditions and it is referring to the fears of a possible recession hitting markets harder anywhere across the globe. Wall Street’s S&P 500 dropped 20% below the January 3 record and crypto is not exempt from the traditional markets with BTC suffering the most. One of BlockFi principal lending competitors Celsius cited market conditions when it announced it will halt withdrawals from the platform with the CEL token crashing by 70 after the announcement.

BlockFi CEO Zac Prince reassured his own clients that all products and services continued to operate normally:

“We are reducing our headcount by roughly 20% and the reduction impacts every team at the company. This decision was driven by market conditions that have had a negative impact on our growth rate and a rigorous review of our strategic priorities. We are doing everything in our power to treat all of our impacted colleagues with the empathy and compassion that they deserve.”

Crypto got off to a rocky start this year but things are still looking bad. BTC as the biggest crypto by market cap decreased by 15% in the past day, trading near $23,734 per coin. The rest of the market was hit hard too with the combined market cap of the coins below $1 trillion at $980 billion. This led companies in the space of layoffs staff as the interest in crypto waned and investors sold risky assets like BTC. BlockFi could be in a tight spot considering the attention that it got from regulators. The lender agreed to pay a $100 million settlement with the SEC and 32 states after failing to register its high-yield BlockFi interest accounts BlockFi offers huge interest rates on deposits but these are not insured and present a certain degree of risks for the users.