Ethereum development firm ConsenSys cuts 14% of staff, cites impact of coronavirus pandemic
ConsenSys, the development studio focused on Ethereum projects, has laid off 14 percent of its workforce, or 90 employees.
In a statement to The Block, a representative for ConsenSys cited the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic on its business prospects. Crypto news sites Decrypt and CoinDesk first reported the news of the layoffs, with Decrypt quoting the firm's founder and CEO Joseph Lubin as saying that "I considered many levers we could pull to weather this storm" during a virtual town hall on Monday.
In the statement, the firm said that "like most of its peers, the company is seeing extraordinary uncertainty in the market, with businesses rebalancing priorities and reevaluating timelines. In such an environment, we must make changes to conserve resources and ensure our continued ability to support our customers, drive innovation, and serve the broader ecosystem."
ConsenSys went on to say:
"Today, ConsenSys made the very difficult decision to part with 14% of the global team. This course of action is necessary to support the company's mission and long-term commitment to customers, who in many cases rely on the firm for mission-critical deployments. All key operational aspects of the business are preserved to ensure the development and service of key products and solutions. ConsenSys remains focused on a core mission to enable developers and enterprises to deploy and operationalize blockchain-based products. The company has been encouraged by the resilience of the Ethereum network and decentralized finance despite the adverse market conditions."
ConsenSys trimmed its staff by 14 percent in early February, during which time the company said it was undertaking a major restructuring of its business along development and venture funding lines. As The Block reported at the time, ConsenSys made the move as it sought to attain outside funding.
ConSensys underwent an earlier round of layoffs in late 2018 as well.
