Blockchain.com cuts a quarter of staff: Report

The firm is reportedly closing its offices in Argentina and scrapping plans to expand to other countries.

Blockchain.com is reducing its workforce

Blockchain.com is the latest cryptocurrency firm to reduce its workforce due to tough market conditions, according to a CoinDesk the report published on Thursday.

The company is cutting 25% of its staff, the equivalent of around 150 people, in response to the ongoing crypto winter, CoinDesk reported citing an email from a company representative.

As part of its survival plan for the coming months, the firm is reportedly closing its offices in Argentina and canceling plans to expand to other countries. according to CoinDesk report 44% of those affected by the cuts are based in Argentina, 26% in the US, 16% in the UK, and the rest are located elsewhere in the world. The affected employees will reportedly be offered severance pay that varies from 4 weeks to 12 weeks depending on where they are located. In addition to the downsizing, management salaries will also be reduced, CoinDesk wrote.

Other measures Blockchain.com is implementing include a decrease in institutional lending, mergers and acquisitions, and its gaming and NFT ventures, the report said.

Many crypto firms have announced similar plans to Blockchain.com in response to adverse market conditions, with the likes of Coinbase, BlockFi and Gemini all announcing major cuts of their own in recent weeks. However, Blockchain.com has been hit particularly hard by the market downturn. Earlier this month, it was revealed that the firm had exposure to Three Arrows Capital before the hedge fund collapsed. Three Arrows defaulted on $270 million worth of loans from the firm as it faced insolvency, although Blockchain.com CEO Peter Smith insisted the firm was liquid and solvent in a letter to shareholders at the time.

While Coinbase and other crypto exchanges publicly announced their cutbacks at the time, Blockchain.com has so far remained silent. Crypto Briefing contacted the firm for comment, but had not received a response by press time.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.