© Reuters
Investing.com – Octopus Network, a multi-chain cryptocurrency network based on the NEAR protocol, has laid off around 40% of its core team and cut the salaries of others due to the ongoing crypto winter, which will not end until at least a year, according to the founder, Louis Liu.
The string of companies announcing layoffs in the cryptocurrency world, citing the prolonged difficult market conditions, is only getting longer. Among the latest, Octopus Network announced a series of restructuring measures and what it called the “Voluntary Departure Program”. Under this program, 12 of the 30 core team members would leave the project. “The remaining team members will take a 20% pay cut”
We are currently in the bear market, and it is likely to continue for some time to come. Especially since the sector itself is expanding, welcoming traditional financial institutions, and becoming itself part of the global financial markets, albeit the riskiest and most volatile part, Liu said.
“But most people will agree: the capital market will return to risk-taking at slow paces, which means the crypto winter will last at least another year, possibly much longer. Web3 startups will not survive”.
Meanwhile, Singapore-based crypto trading firm Amber Group has decided to lay off 40% of its workforce and cut retail operations, citing the market downturn. She also ended a $25 million sponsorship deal with football club Chelsea FC.
Koinly, a cryptocurrency tax reporting platform, laid off 14% of its team, citing “the deepening bear market”. Cryptocurrency exchange ByBit cut its workforce by 30%, while non-fungible token (NFT) platform Candy Digital laid off a third of the company’s roughly 100 employees.