Coinspeaker
Circle Reduces Staff and Non-Core Projects to Strengthen Balance Sheet
Circle has announced the laying off of some of its staff. The USDC issuer noted that it reduced or ended investments in some non-core activities and reduced its operational expenses in some quarters. This resulted in a slight reduction in its workforce. Consequently, it noted that the staff cut would allow it to maintain focus on core business activities and execution.
“At the same time, we have identified new areas for investment and are continuing to hire in key areas of focus on a global basis,” the company said.
However, the layoff comes after Circle’s Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Fox-Geen shared the company’s plan to increase employee numbers. Mr. Fox-Geen noted to the Wall Street Journal that the USDC issuer was working to increase its total headcount by 15% to 25% by the end of the year.
Circle Reducing Its Staff to Focus on Core Mission
Equally important, Circle has pivoted its efforts recently, streamlining its operations to align with its core mission. In February 2023, the company sold its OTC trading desk to Kraken. Earlier, it spun off its Poloniex exchange to a new entity called Polo Digital Assets. Circle has also demonstrated its commitment to innovation, compliance, and customer satisfaction and an ambition to become a public company.
In addition, despite the market situation, Circle has successfully grown its USDC supply to over $27 billion in circulation. It has also expanded its global reach to over 100 countries and 80 currencies. Likewise, the asset supports various use cases and platforms such as DeFi, NFTs, gaming, and e-commerce.
Again, the company recently beefed up its team, bringing in Craig Broderick and Heath Tarbert as Director and Chief Legal Officer respectively. Moreover, Circle founder Jeremy Allaire remarked:
“Strong risk management is essential to Circle’s efforts to make USDC the safest, most trusted and transparent digital dollar on the internet.”
A Season of Layoffs
Furthermore, Circle is not the only crypto firm that has downsized amid industry headwinds. In the past year, several other crypto companies have also cut their staff or restructured their operations. In September 2022, Blockfi cut its numbers by 10% while Coinbase laid off 15% of its staff. Others like Gemini, Chainalysis, Crypto.com, Genesis, and Huobi also announced varying levels of layoffs. More recently, Dapper Labs laid off 51 employees to achieve a leaner operation.
All of these layoffs had commonalities: they were responses to market situations and an attempt by crypto companies to consolidate their positions. Other responsible factors include regulatory pressure and scrutiny from authorities, market volatility and uncertainty due to macroeconomic events, competition, and technological disruption in the crypto space.
While the layoffs extend far beyond the crypto ecosystem, it suggests the need for adaptation and resilience among crypto companies and the potential for new opportunities and collaborations among crypto stakeholders.
Circle Reduces Staff and Non-Core Projects to Strengthen Balance Sheet
