The largest non-fiat token (NFT) market by trading volume, Opensea, CEO Devin Finzer attributed the layoffs to a combination of “crypto winter and broader macroeconomic instability” After stating that the company has let go of 20% of its staff, Opensea’s decision comes as the startup has surpassed $31 billion in all-time NFT sales volume and the company has added a variety of new support features.
Opensea CEO reveals company layoffs.
Opensea joins a growing list of crypto asset companies announcing layoffs this year as the downturn in the crypto market has affected nearly every aspect of the industry.On July 14, 2022, Devin Finzer, CEO of Opensea,explained that the company was having a“tough day” after having to let go of about 20% of the company’s workforce. In addition, Finzer published a note he wrote to members of the Opensea team before announcing the layoffs on Twitter.
Finzer’s note to the team said that management had to make an “incredibly sad and difficult decision,” and the statement highlighted the fact that the industry was dealing with a tough “crypto winter. “Finzer said that Opensea was “dealing with the possibility of a prolonged recession due Adding that the company needed to be prepared, the CEO explained that the changes would help the company continue strongly on its “multi-year runway.”
The move comes at a time when countless technology companies, blockchain firms, and cryptocurrency businesses are laying off thousands of workers. Last week, Meta explained that it was slowing its hiring process and hinted at future layoffs; Bitso, Robinhood, Coinbase, Gemini, 2TM, Rain Financial, Blockfi, Bitpanda, Buenbit, Crypto. com, among others, have announced layoffs. Austrian exchange Bitpandadetailedthat it had to let go of staff to “weather the storm and get out of financial health.”
While many crypto companies have let people go, there are stillmany positionsin the digital currency and blockchain industry. This past weekend, Yi He, co-founder of Binance, told Fortune that the company still has jobs available.” We currently have over 2,000 roles open, from engineering, product, and marketing to business development,” Yi He said.” The crypto space is still in its infancy, and while bull markets tend to be more price sensitive, bear markets have more value conscious teams that continue to build the industry. We believe this is a great time to bring in top talent,” noted the co-founder of Binance.
Opensea executive says NFT market is in “strong position to continue to move the space forward”
Opensea’s Finzer on Thursday in his Twitter thread leaving employees He continued his praise. The CEO wrotethat “those leaving us are smart, hard-working, mission-driven people who have played an invaluable role in growing OpenSea and the NFT space to where it is today.” We will miss them and they will forever be a part of our story and community.” Finzer’s Twitter thread emphasized that the CEO still has “tremendous confidence in the NFT field,” and further noted Opensea’s role to play in this growing field.
“There will be an explosion of innovation across the ecosystem this winter,” Finzer said.
“And with the changes we have made, we are in a strong position to continue to move this sector forward.
According to the company’s pre-layoffdata, Open Sea’s NFT sales volume totaled $31.29 billion; the NFT market added support for the Solana (SOL) network in April, and during that month crypto startup Moonpay announced the option to pay for Oppensea NFTs with credit cards, Google Pay, and Apple Pay.During the first week of January 2022, Oppensea revealed that the company had secured $300 million, and later that month, the company acquired Dharma Labs. The exact total number of how many Opensea employees were laid off is unknown.
Opensea’s Finzer added that the key NFT market is focused on its goals. Finzer concluded, “At a time of global economic uncertainty, our mission to build a fundamental layer for the new peer-to-peer economy feels more urgent and important than ever.”
Image credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Editorial photograph credit: Diego Thomazini / Shutterstock.com