Despite the ongoing relief rally in the crypto market, the negative news seems to have no end in sight. The latest to hit the headlines today is Gemini, as the crypto exchange company reportedly cut another 10% of its global staff according to a new report published by That information citing internal messages.
This latest headcount reduction is the third round of crypto exchanges in the past eight months. The previous staff cuts took place in June following extreme market conditions. The company laid off a tenth of its employees. A few weeks later, reports emerged that the company was laying off an additional 68 employees, or about 7% of its workforce.
In an internal message disclosed by The Information today, Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss wrote:
(…) it is hoped that there will be no more reductions after this summer. However, the ongoing negative macroeconomic situation and the unprecedented fraud perpetrated by bad actors in our industry leave us with no other choice but to improve our prospects and reduce the number of employees.
Gemini is a cryptocurrency exchange company in New York founded by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in 2005. The company is backed by $423 million in funding and provides crypto-related services, including providing crypto wallets to store digital assets.
Moon hurts Gemini
Over the past several months, Gemini has come under pressure following its involvement with now-bankrupt crypto lender Genesis. A few days ago, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Gemini power through an alleged unregistered offer and sale of securities to retail investors.
In 2020, Gemini and Genesis collaborated to launch a loan program called Gemini Earn. The program allows Gemini users to lend digital assets to Genesis and earn interest. According to the SEC, Gemini Earn raised billions of dollars in crypto assets from hundreds of thousands of investors.
At SEC charges has labeled the program as “offer and sale of securities” that must be registered with US regulators. Furthermore, Genesis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, unable to repay Gemini Earn registered loan fund. According to Genesis’ bankruptcy filing, the company now owes Gemini a total of $765.9 million, making Genesis its largest creditor.
The Exodus Series Continues
Gemini is not the only company to reduce its head count amid the downward trend in the crypto market. On January 10, Coinbase Global Inc. let go of about 1000 employees or about 20% of the workforce, making layoffs in the company’s third round.
Three days later, the popular crypto exchange Crypto.com did as well declare that this lay off 20% of an employee. According to Co-Founder & CEO of Crypto.com, Kris Marszalek, part of the company’s decision to reduce the number of employees includes focusing more on prudent financial management and positioning the company for long-term success over time.
While crypto companies continue to announce layoffs, the crypto market has ignored the negative news. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization recently revisited the $1 trillion benchmark for the first time in a month.
Featured images from BlockchainReporter, Charts from TradingView.