Solana NFT Protocol Metaplex undergoes company-wide layoffs following FTX disaster

The Solana ecosystem continues to take the hardest hits after the implosion of FTX which used to be one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms.

Its native token, SOL, is suffering severely as the altcoin has already lost 62% of its value in the last two weeks.

According to tracking from Coingeckocrypto assets that now rank 17th in terms of market cap, it is changing hands at $12.88 and has been down more than 5% in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, over the past seven days, the digital coin has dumped 22.6% off its spot price.

It has also been noted by some observers that a significant number app developers have started to pack their bags and leave the blockchain network, as evidenced by the decreasing number of deposited SOL tokens.

Unfortunately, the tragedy does not end here for the people and employees under Solana’s umbrella.

 Image: Business Insider

Metaplex forced to let go of unknown number of workers

In what appears to be a desperate attempt to keep the business afloat following the negative effects of the FTX crisis, Metaplex, the Solana NFT protocol, announced via Twitter that it will dismissal of some of its employees.

Stephen Hess, CEO and co-founder of the protocol, was quick to clarify that the studio’s finances were not directly affected by the collapse of FTX, but admitted that the fallout of this crash episode for the crypto market has forced them to take some drastic measures.

At the moment, Hess remains mum on the number of employees who will be affected by the layoffs and which departments will now have to move forward with fewer team members.

Metaplex Studio is credited with the minting of more than 22 million non-fungible tokens that together achieve an astonishing value of $3.6 billion.

Solana TVL also receives a heavy blow

The price and market value of SOL are not the only things that were damaged by the circumstances surrounding FTX.

The TVL of the Solana Ecosystem, which once stood at $1 billion, crashed as it was wiped out by $700 million, and is down 70% since Nov. 6.

It didn’t help that the Solana Foundation had more than $1 million on the back of the crypto exchange and had more than $3.2 million in FTX shares and $3.43 million in FTT tokens that lost nearly 80% of their value in just one day .

As a result of this level of exposure, the network’s ecosystem was overwhelmed and destroyed, although co-founder Anatoly Yakovenko continues to assure investors that they have enough financial capacity to stay in business for the next 30 months in their current state.

SOL total market cap at $4.6 billion on the weekend chart | Featured image from Coin Edition, Chart: TradingView.com