On July 14th, NFT titan, OpenSea, announced mass layoffs. The company has opted to cut its team by 20%, citing a ‘combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability.’ The past few months have sparked a crypto winter, as well as recession fears, all adding to the already existing instability which we are currently facing. Such financial predicaments have required difficult decisions to be made within the Web3 space.
Today is a hard day for OpenSea, as we’re letting go of ~20% of our team. Here’s the note I shared with our team earlier this morning: pic.twitter.com/E5k6gIegH7
— Devin Finzer (dfinzer.eth) (@dfinzer) July 14, 2022
“The folks leaving us are smart, hardworking, mission-driven individuals who’ve played an immeasurable role in growing OpenSea and the NFT space to where we are today, “stated Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea. “We will miss them and they will forever be part of our story and community.” With the company cutting one in every five people, it shows how impacted they have been by the market situation. The unpredictability and volatility of crypto have raised concerns both within Web3 and Web2.
The cut in employees has caused waves through OpenSea, however, Finzer says it’s for the long-term sustainability of the company. With the changes which have taken place, OpenSea will be able to survive for about 5 years if the current crypto winter were to persist. However, Finzer doubts that will happen. “I have immense conviction in the NFT space & in OpenSea’s role in it. During this winter, we’ll see an explosion in innovation across the ecosystem. And with the changes we’ve made, we’re in a strong position to continue driving the space forward.”
The world of crypto is split in terms of layoffs. Companies such as Gemini and Crypto.com have announced several cuts however, firms such as FTX and Binance have stated that they plan to onboard more employees, even when factoring in market conditions. Crypto has seen 1,700 layoffs in June alone, leaving many wondering where the future of the industry lies.
