Blockchain Analytics Firm Nansen Cuts Workforce by 30%

Blockchain analytics company Nansen Research has announced that it is cutting its workforce by 30%.

CEO Alex Svanevik took to Twitter to comment about the “extremely difficult decision” to reduce Nansen’s team size. He added that the company ensures that anyone who leaves will “have a soft landing, with farewells and support.”

This year has seen a large amount of layoffs, across the crypto space, with exchanges leading the way. However, these platforms have not been the only ones affected, with cutbacks at payment companies and across the Web3 landscape.

In a follow up tweetSvanevik released the full statement, which included saying he takes full responsibility, apologized to those affected and explained the decision.

“First, we scaled up the team on the back of breakneck growth in our first years of operation,” he wrote, adding that growth “led the organization to take on surface areas that are not really part of Nansen’s core strategy.”

according to CEO, the other reason behind the big layoff was the current bear market, and how the past year has been “brutal” for crypto markets. Despite today’s unfortunate news, he wrote that Nansen has “several years of runway” and that its priority is to build a sustainable business.

Nansen raised $75 million in Series B funding last December 2021 with participation from GIC, Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) and Tiger Global.

Svanevik did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Decrypt.

Nansen Research is one of the main blockchain intelligence platforms with real-time dashboards, in-depth reports and wallet labels, a unique way to label and identify addresses. The company bills itself as “crypto’s on-chain intelligence hub.”

Crypto Twitter was receptive to the news, supporting Svanevik’s openness.

Founder of Web3 investment company Defiance Capital, Arthur Cheong, answered to the statement: [I] “respect the transparent communication.” His words were echoed by the Twitter user jugg.eth who tweeted “Days like these are never easy. However, the transparency is admirable. Let’s keep building!”

Several other crypto firms responded to Svanevik to say they are hiring, including Ava Labs, the company behind the Avalanche network; NFT platform First mate; together with the early stage financing company, Chapter One.

The Nansen CEO ended his statement on an optimistic note, calling the company a “young and learning organization” that is eager to “help build a new financial structure for the world.”