The exterior of Crypto.com Arena on January 26, 2022 in Los Angeles, California.
Rich Fury | Getty Images
Crypto.com announced on Friday that it’s laying off 20% of its workforce. CEO Kris Marszalek said in a blog post that the crypto exchange grew “ambitiously” but was unable to account for the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire FTX.
“All impacted personnel have already been notified,” Marszalek said in a post. Crypto exchanges and lenders have been forced to aggressively pare back headcount, a move accelerated by FTX and the wave of crises that have followed.
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Marszalek said the reduction was part of Crypto.com’s continued focus on “prudent financial management.”
Like FTX, Crypto.com entered into high-profile promotion deals and sponsorships, inking an eye-popping naming deal for the former Staples Center in 2021 that is valued at $700 million over 20 years.
“We have a significant year ahead of us as we continue to help restore trust in our industry,” Marszalek wrote. Marszalek founded Crypto.com in 2016, overseeing a company that reportedly reached at least $1.2 billion in revenue by 2021.
Crypto.com had a bruising 2022. High-profile gaffes included multiple mistaken transfers, one of which accidentally transferred over $400 million worth of assets to another exchange. The company also executed a prior round of layoffs in 2022.
In December, CNBC reported on some of Marszalek’s business successes and failures. At the time, Marszalek dismissed concerns about Crypto.com’s stability.
“Startups are hard… but there is no better way to live,” he wrote.
