NFT platform OpenSea lays off 20% of its staff citing crypto winter

The 2022 Crypto winter causes yet another crypto platform to reduce the workforce and reformulate its plans

By Shashank Bhardwaj

Image: Shutterstock

On Thursday, OpenSea, a nonfungible token (NFT) marketplace, announced employee cutbacks citing the current crypto winter as the reason. The move comes after similar lay-offs by other crypto asset companies were reported during the ongoing bear market phase.

The bear market condition in the crypto market is negatively impacting the crypto firms, forcing the companies to step back and reconsider their payroll and development strategies.

Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, disclosed on Twitter that OpenSea would be reducing the headcount by 20 percent. In a message addressed to his employees, Finzer said that “an unprecedented combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability” is the reason for layoffs.

He added, “we need to prepare the company for the responsibility of a prolonged downturn [...] The changes we’re making today put us in a position to maintain multiple years of runaway under various crypto winter scenarios (5 years at the current volume) and give us high confidence that we will only have to go through this process once.”

The reduction in headcount means the crypto market is suffering, and platforms are finding it hard to sustain themselves. The market’s value decreased by more than two-thirds compared to the peak in November last year. OpenSea is the largest NFT market in the world by its trading volume, and a platform of such stature cutting jobs is a clear-cut indication that no crypto firm, whether small or large, has been spared by the crypto winter wreaking havoc and causing projects to tumble.

Several renowned crypto companies like Crypto.com, Blockfi, Coinbase and Gemini have carried out mass layoffs in recent months. According to INSIDER, crypto companies have reduced their headcount by 1700 employees in the month of June alone.

However, exchange giants like Kraken, FTX and Binance have decided not to walk on the path of other crypto companies. In fact, they are outlining ways to solidify their plans by adding more employees to their companies in the next few months.

Shashank is the founder of yMedia. He ventured into crypto in 2013 and is an ETH maximalist. Twitter: @bhardwajshash

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