Protocol Labs, Chainalysis and Bittrex add to Crypto Layoff Season

• Protocol Labs, Chainalysis and Bittrex add to Crypto Layoff Season

Cryptologic experts proposed that the “”very difficult” circumstances compelled them to reduce employment in order to “survive this extended” crypto winter.

Several crypto enterprises have reduced their workforces this week in response to the prolonged crypto winter, keeping “significant” staff as they prepare for a “longer downturn.”

At least 216 employees were chopped amongst three crypto enterprises — open-source software laboratory Protocol Labs, blockchain data firm Chainalysis and U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Bittrex, with losses of 89, 83 and 44 staff correspondingly.

Juan Benet, the CEO of Protocol Labs, Filecoin’s parent company, announced the layoffs in a blog post on February 3, noting that the company had to focus its workforce on “the most effective and business-critical initiatives.”

He added that the company’s decision to eliminate 89 positions, or around 21 percent of its employees, was made so that it could “weather this extended winter.”

Benet suggested that the company must “plan for a lengthier decline” given the “very difficult” climate of the cryptocurrency market.

CEO Richie Lai informed Bittrex employees via email on February 1 that the company has reduced its headcount to “maintain its long-term viability.” “of the business

The email was published on Twitter on February 2, in which Lai noted that despite the leadership team “working actively” to decrease expenses and boost efficiencies over the past several months, the efforts had not yielded “the desired outcomes.”

Lai noted that market conditions compelled the company to adjust its strategy and “align its investments with the changing economic climate.”

According to employment data from the state of Washington released on February 2, Bittrex eliminated 83 positions.

Chainalysis’s head of communications, Maddie Kennedy, told Forbes on February 1 that 44 of the company’s 900 employees, or 4.8% of the total, were laid off.

These layoffs follow the January announcement that at least 2,900 employees were eliminated across 14 crypto businesses.

10 January saw the biggest number of layoffs among these companies, with Coinbase laying off 950 employees.

In the meanwhile, competitors trade Crypto.com, Luno and Huobi experienced reductions of roughly 500, 330 and 320 workers correspondingly.

At the time of writing, Protocol Labs, Chainalysis, and Bittrex had not responded to Cointelegraph’s request for comment.