Gemini, the Winklevoss-owned cryptocurrency exchange, began its third round of job cuts in less than a year, laying off another 10% of its workforce.
Cameron Winklevoss claims that the dismissal was motivated by a combination of macroeconomic pressure and “unprecedented fraud” within the crypto industry.
Gemini reduction team
As reported by Information on Monday, the outlet received an internal message from Winklevoss saying he had “no choice” but to downsize.
“We had hoped to avoid further reductions after this summer, however, persistent negative macroeconomic conditions and unprecedented fraud perpetuated by bad actors in our industry have left us with no choice but to revise our outlook and reduce headcount further.” he said in the letter.
Pitchbook data shows Gemini had 1,000 employees as of November 2022, meaning roughly 100 people were likely laid off. The latest cut came in July with 7% of the company losing their jobs, after 10% were laid off a month earlier.
They are not alone in taking such drastic measures: Coinbase fired another 950 employees earlier this month after losing 18% of its workforce in June. CryptoCom too Court another 20% of employees two weeks ago.
Most companies cite macroeconomic factors as their main weakness. Rising interest rates helped plunge crypto asset prices in 2022, hurting exchanges, miners, and trading companies alike.
Gemini legal battles
Winklevoss has been particularly aggressive in calling out Barry Silbert, the CEO of DCG whose business arm, Genesis, left. officially bankrupt In the past week. Winklevoss claim (is that Silbert and the two companies misrepresented the state of their finances to Gemini, whose Earn program now has its users’ funds locked inside Genesis.
When it comes to fraud, former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried has been widely accused and accused of the same after his exchange crashed in July. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has filed charges against him for defrauding his clients by funneling user funds to his trading desk, Alameda Research, to which he has begged not guilty.
However, Gemini and Genesis are now embroiled in their own issues with the SEC, which alleges that each offered unregistered securities to the retail investing public through Gemini Earn. Nexo, a rival crypto-lending platform, has Abandoned in serving US customers after numerous challenges from regulators along the same lines.
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