Key Takeaways:
- SuperRare and Genesis add to several firms announcing staff cuts.
- Genesis had about 260 employees prior to the two waves of layoffs.
SuperRare, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, has announced a 30% employee reduction. CEO John Crain noted that the company made the error of hiring too many people during the last bull market.
SuperRare is one of the most well-known brands in the industry, yet it has a noticeably lower trading volume than other NFT exchanges like OpenSea and Magic Eden.
Crain announced the 30% decrease in a screenshot posted to SuperRare’s Slack channel, claiming that he had “sad news to deliver,” in a tweet on January 7. He declared:
“Startups are a balancing act of managing rapid growth while doing everything possible to conserve limited resources. During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market. In recent months it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable: we over-hired, and I take full ownership of this mistake.”
Crain did not specify the particular redundancy packages that the fired workers will receive, but the company did state that it will “do all we can to help them transition to other opportunities and support them in future endeavours.”
In addition, Genesis Global Trading Inc. is reducing its workforce by 30% due to impending financial trouble. 20% of the company’s employees had previously been let go in August.
With 145 employees leaving the organization days back, there were general layoffs. In order to assess its alternatives for the future, including a potential chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Genesis is reportedly collaborating with investment firm Moelis & Co.
Genesis’s connection to the bankrupt cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd. caused problems as early as June last year. Since then, things have only worsened due to the failure of FTX and a sister business called Alameda Research, both of which had loans with Genesis. According to a Genesis spokesman:
“As we continue to navigate unprecedented industry challenges, Genesis has made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount globally. These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to move our business forward.”
Positively, Genesis is still in business, which cannot be stated for other businesses. Payment infrastructure company Wyre Payments Inc., which is apparently discontinuing operations at the end of the month, is the first crypto-related business that could likely shut down in 2023. Others will follow in the next days and months, given the continuous market unrest.
