Key Takeaways
- CEO stated that Nansen’s rapid expansion during its initial years resulted in the company diversifying its operations beyond its core focus.
- Firm claims to still have several years of runway
- CEO highlights that the company’s cost base remained relatively high compared to its current position.
Blockchain data platform Nansen has recently made the difficult decision to reduce its workforce by 30%, according to CEO Alex Svanevik. In a tweet on May 30, Svanevik acknowledged the challenging year for crypto markets and admitted that the company had scaled too quickly, leading it to venture into areas that were not aligned with Nansen’s core strategy.
The CEO outlined two primary reasons for the layoffs. Firstly, Nansen’s rapid expansion during its initial years resulted in the company diversifying its operations beyond its core focus.
Svanevik took full responsibility for this and assured stakeholders that the restructured organization would refocus on its key competencies. He stated that the goal now is to streamline operations to help achieve greater efficiency and excellence by focusing on fewer areas of expertise.
The second reason for the downsizing was the harsh market conditions experienced by the crypto industry over the past year. The CEO stated that despite Nansen’s efforts to diversify revenue streams by targeting enterprise and institutional customers, the company’s cost base remained relatively high compared to its current position.
Svanevik emphasized that Nansen still had several years of the runway but emphasized the need to build a sustainable business in the face of market challenges. Nansen’s restructuring comes as a strategic move to realign the company with its core objectives and navigate the challenging crypto market landscape.
In his tweet announcing the layoff, Svanevik also expressed his gratitude to the departing employees and mentioned that they would be entitled to severance packages as part of the company’s commitment to supporting them during the transition.
Crypto layoffs have become an increasingly common phenomenon recently owing to harsh market conditions. In January, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase announced a 20% reduction in its workforce, citing the need to decrease operating costs amid the ongoing crypto winter.
In April, DeFi liquidity protocol Balancer slashed its operating budgets and laid off staff in a move to overhaul Balancer’s brand strategy. Similarly, other industry players like Dapper Labs and Gemini have also made job cuts to improve focus, efficiency and adapt to changing market conditions.
