Blockchain.com said it would close its Argentina-based offices and cancel the team’s expansion plans to multiple countries. Some 44% of affected employees are in Argentina, 26% in the United States, 16% in the United Kingdom and the rest in the rest of the world, the company said.
The reduction brings the company’s workforce back to January 2022 levels, a representative told CoinDesk via email.
Blockchain.com has grown rapidly over the past 16 months, growing from 150 to over 600 employees. Strengthening its balance sheet by contracting the company means the company can absorb the financial impact of the collapse of Three Arrows Capital, the Blockchain.com representative said.
Blockchain.com, which is one of the oldest companies in the crypto industry, is also reducing its institutional lending activity, halting all mergers and acquisitions, pausing efforts to develop games and slowing its non-fungible token (NFT) market.
The company said its most active demand came from Europe, the United States and Africa, as opposed to Latin America. He also said he gets more brokerage inquiries than gambling.
Executive salaries and CEO pay are also being cut, the company representative said. Consumer incomes remain active and solid; institutional revenues are stable (but not declining) and will need time to recover, he added.
Severance packages ranging from 4 weeks to 12 weeks will be offered to affected staff, depending on the country, as well as third-party job replacement assistance to UK and US employees, the firm
