Forkast lays off majority of editorial staff amid merger with CryptoSlam

Forkast Labs has laid off the majority of its editorial staff as part of a merger with data provider CryptoSlam, according to multiple sources close to the matter.

Forkast.News merged with CryptoSlam in January to create a “Web3-focused data intelligence and media platform” with its new brand Forkast Labs. The crypto news site, however, appears to have stopped publishing articles and video content last month, with its last article dated Nov. 22. “Forkast.News is now Forkast Labs,” the website currently says.

Multiple sources told The Block that the news site underwent layoffs this year and eventually decided to suspend editorial operations at the end of November.

“The majority of editorial operations have been incorporated into Forkast Labs as a result of the merger between Forkast and CryptoSlam earlier this year,” the company wrote in an internal memo shared with its staff last month. “There will be an increased focus on the data side going forward, and the collective team will be focused on launching new data products.”

CryptoSlam, a non-fungible token data tracker, was established in 2018 and raised $9 million in January 2022 in a round led by Animoca Brands. Forkast.News is also an Animoca portfolio company. Yat Siu, founder and executive chairman of Animoca, shepherded the merger, according to a Bloomberg report published in January.

Forkast.News was founded in 2018 and raised a $1.7 million seed round in 2021. In March, Forkast Labs released a series of indices, including the Forkast 500 NFT Index. The company partnered with The Sandbox in June to “index the metaverse.”

Crypto news outlet CoinDesk laid off 45% of its editorial staff in August before it was sold to Bullish, a crypto exchange led by former New York Stock Exchange President Tom Farley, last month in an all-in cash deal.