Even the cryptocurrency giants are not immune to market pressures. Recent reports have highlighted significant workforce reductions at two major blockchain companies, Circle and Dapper Labs, despite their significant fundraising successes.

Circle, a leading stablecoin issuer, recently reduced its workforce slightly to maintain a “strong balance sheet.” The company has raised a total of $1.1 billion in funding over 11 rounds, with the latest funding being raised on April 12, 2022 from a private equity round.

Despite this financial backing, the company has found it necessary to reduce or terminate investments in non-core businesses and lower operating expenses, including a marginal reduction in headcount. However, Circle continues to identify new areas to invest and hire in key focus areas globally.

Similarly, Dapper Labs, known for developing popular NFT collectibles like CryptoKitties and NBA Top Shot, has Announced its third round of layoffs in less than a year reflecting the broader decline in the cryptocurrency and NFT markets.

The company has laid off 51 employees, representing about 12% of the company’s workforce. This comes despite Dapper Labs raising a total of $612.5 million in funding over seven rounds, with the last funding raised on November 21, 2022.

Although bitcoin price has been above $30,000 for almost 20 days and some traders have anticipated a bull market, workforce reductions at both Dapper Labs and Circle remind us of the current challenges in the crypto market in general and the bear market is not over yet.

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