Gemini, a cryptocurrency trading platform founded by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, is the latest industry firm to lay off a significant portion of its workforce due to adverse market conditions.
As Bloomberg reports, the Winklevoss’s crypto business Gemini Trust has reportedly cut 10% of its workforce amid the ongoing bear crypto market, the founders wrote in a notice to employees on June 2.
As part of its first major headcount cut, Gemini will focus only on products that are “critical” to the firm’s mission, the brothers said, adding that “turbulent market conditions” are likely to continue for some time. The notice reportedly reads:
“This is where we are now, in a contraction phase that is settling into a period of stagnation – what our industry refers to as the ‘crypto winter. […] All this is further complicated by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil. we are not alone.”
The new report comes after several major industry companies fired some employees or put on hold new hiring. In mid-May, the Coinbase exchange officially announced that it would be slowing hiring and re-evaluating its headcount to ensure that it continues to operate as planned.
Earlier, Robinhood, the leading crypto-friendly trading platform, laid off 9% of its workforce. The layoffs came amid Robinhood’s HOOD stock touching an all-time low as part of a long-term bear market on the crypto markets.
The latest crypto industry layoffs are nothing new for the industry as major crypto markets like Bitcoin (BTC) have historically been moving in cycles, with major bear markets preceded by big gains. In the midst of crypto’s massive bear market in 2018, some industry firms such as ConsenSys reportedly laid off up to 60% of their workforce, later announcing plans to hire 600 employees.
related: The crypto job market is catching on despite cuts in the tech industry
According to some sources, the current conditions of the crypto job market do not look too gloomy though. Executives in the crypto and blockchain industry are still looking to hire people, according to the crypto hiring website by bitcoin influencer Anthony Pompliano, with the PompCryptoJobs website listing approximately 600 open positions at the time of writing.
Major global crypto exchange Binance is looking to hire around 1,000 employees, according to its official job openings website.
Gemini did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Cointelegraph.
