‘Just’ 4% – How significant in number are crypto-layoffs these days

Layoffs in the cryptocurrency sector account for just 4% of the total layoffs in the technology sector this year.

According to CoinGecko, the crypto-sector laid off 4,695 employees, as of 13 November. This puts the sector at 10^th position in the list of technology sectors with maximum layoffs.

‘Just’ 4,695 layoffs in the crypto-sector

The consumer technology sector led the way with 18,486 layoffs, accounting for 15.6% of all technology layoffs. Facebook’s parent company, Meta, recently laid off 11,000 employees, accounting for 59.5% of all consumer technology layoffs. Twitter is laying off an estimated 3,700 employees too following Elon Musk’s takeover.

The food technology sector came in second with 13,203 layoffs, accounting for 11.1% of all technology layoffs. Getir, a Turkish delivery company, laid off 4,480 employees in May, accounting for 33.9% of all food technology layoffs. Foodpanda, Delivery Hero, and Shopee have also let go of a significant number of employees.

Source: CoinGecko

The top 5 technology sectors, viz. consumer, food, transport, finance, and healthcare technology sectors make up more than half of technology layoffs. Together, they represent a combined 53.1% of industry layoffs.

Major layoffs in the crypto-sector in 2022

Leading crypto and blockchain companies have discontinued the services of a huge number of their staff members.

A leading NFT company Dapper Labs laid off 22% of its workplace in early November, i.e. approximately 135 staff members. Web3 firm Digital Currency Group laid off around 10% of its staff around the same time.

Michael Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital is also reportedly looking to lay off around 15-20% of its staff. Crypto-exchange BitMeX has also been planning to fire 30% of its staff.

Last month, the cryptocurrency trading broker NYDIG reportedly fired its workforce by about 33% days before it replaced two executives, including its CEO. Roughly 110 employees were impacted during the process. The same month, Crypto.com reduced its staff by 30-40%, laying off over 2,000 individuals.

In August, crypto-mining company Core Scientific laid off 10% of its workforce after it announced a net loss of $862 million for the second quarter of 2022.

In July, cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius laid off around 150 individuals. Soon enough, it filed for bankruptcy. Around the same time, the Chinese crypto-firm Huobi also let go of more than 30% of its workforce once China began enforcing its crypto-mining ban strictly.

In June, cryptocurrency exchange Bybit laid off 20-30% of its workforce. Another exchange Coinbase laid off approximately 1,100 employees, around 18% of its workforce.

Even though layoffs in the crypto-industry are not as high as those in other tech sectors, things could change for the worse. Especially since the FTX crisis might precipitate more layoffs in affected firms soon.