Blockchain Titans OP Labs, Polygon, and Matter Labs Vie for Celo Contracts Amid Crypto Winter Layoffs

HARSH WINTER: In the last edition of The Protocol, we recounted the rounds of layoffs coursing through the blockchain industry – at Chia Network, Chainalysis and Yield Protocol. Such moves come as digital-asset markets have stalled over the past several months, prolonging what many experts describe as an unusually harsh “crypto winter.” According to the analysis firm Messari, fundraising for crypto startups has hit a three-year low. Well, over the past week, there’s been more job cuts. CoinDesk broke the news this week that Blocknative, a provider of tools on the Ethereum blockchain, had reduced headcount by a third, which works out to about a dozen people. Last week, the crypto custody firm Ledger cut 12% of staff, or about 88 jobs, citing “macroeconomic headwinds” that are “limiting our ability to generate revenue.” Yuga Labs, the NFT company behind the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collection, eliminated an unspecified number of roles, even though it closed a $450 million funding round just 18 months ago, Unchained reported. In a statement on Yuga’s website, CEO Daniel Alegre wrote that the company had “a number of projects that, while well-intentioned, either spread the team too thin or required execution expertise beyond our core competencies.” It bears pointing out that the broader economy doesn’t seem to be suffering in the same way; the U.S. added 336,000 jobs in September, double analysts’ forecasts, a government report last week showed.