Cryptocurrency startup Blockchain.com has announced that it is laying off 25% of its staff, citing the deteriorating market situation.
The figure represents about 150 members of its staff.
The company also announced that it is closing its offices in Argentina and is reviewing its plans to expand to a number of other countries.
The bulk of the redundancies – around 44% – involve employees in Argentina, while 26% involve employees in the US and 16% involve employees in the UK. The update was made earlier on Thursday.
The news, reported by Coinbase, was confirmed to the CNBC network by a Blockchain.com spokesperson.
The latter is one of the companies directly affected by the collapse of crypto-hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
3AC filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors earlier in July, as it owed hundreds of millions of dollars to companies in the industry such as Celsius and Voyager Digital. The company’s co-founders have since disappeared from the spotlight and its creditors’ legal representatives are looking for them.
Blockchain.com had loaned 3AC $270 million in cryptocurrency and is expected to lose most or all of that amount.
On Wednesday, cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase denied having any exposure to Celsius, Voyager or 3AC.
The collapse of the controversial stablecoin Terra in May led to a chain reaction and eventually the collapse of cryptocurrency companies that had made risky investment bets with borrowed funds.
Companies such as Celsius and Voyager “locked” customer accounts as they failed to respond to requests to withdraw funds and subsequently went bankrupt.
Founded in 2012, Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency and digital wallet exchange platform. The company claims that one-third of all cryptocurrency transactions are made through its platform.
The company, which is unlisted, was valued at $14 billion in a funding round earlier in 2022. Its backer backers include British tycoon Richard Branson, among others.
