Blockchain.com lays off a quarter of staff as fallout from crypto crash worsens 

Price Of Bitcoin Sinks As Cryptocurrency Sell-off Continues

Blockchain.com cut 25 per cent of its workforce, about 150 people, as the impact of the “crypto winter” and the Three Arrows Capital collapse worsens.

The crypto exchange blamed the sharp crash in the crypto market and high financial losses for the decision, according to CoinDesk. 

Blockchain.com will lose $270m from a loan to bankrupt crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC).  

The sharp downturn in the crypto market recently has sent prices of major cryptocurrencies plunging and caused widespread losses in the industry, with some crypto-involved companies like 3AC collapsing.

Blockchain.com did not immediately respond to CityAM’s request for comment.

Blockchain.com is closing its Argentina offices and cancelling team expansion plans in multiple countries, with the workforce cut bringing the firm’s staffing back to January 2022 levels, CoinDesk reported. The company will also reduce its institutional lending business and halting all M&A.

The crypto platform joins a growing list of companies cutting staff amid the crypto rout. Coinbase said last month it would slash 1,100 jobs, about 18 per cent of its workforce, while Crypto.com said it would lay off about 260 employees, 5 per cent of its staff.

The crypto rout has sent the crypto market cap plummeting from above $3 trillion ($2.5 trillion) last year to below $1 trillion ($0.8 trillion), with the price of Bitcoin tumbling almost 70 per cent from its all-time high of near $69,000 (£57,3703 in November 2021 to $22,941 (£19,185) today.