NFT Marketplace Magic Eden Cuts 22 Jobs

Solana-based NFT marketplace Magic Eden is laying off 22 workers amid corporate restructuring.

Company CEO and Co-founder Jack Lu announced the job cuts Monday (Feb. 13) on Twitter and via a post on Magic Eden blog. He said the cuts came after the firm had seen the challenges it faces evolve in recent months.

🧵 Today is a sad day at Magic Eden.

As part of a company-wide restructuring, we have made the difficult decision to part ways with 22 teammates. Nothing about this decision takes away from the talent, hardwork and dedication of this incredible group of people. pic.twitter.com/2LAGfK9dMV

— Jack Lu (@0xLeoInRio) February 14, 2023

“As we established these priorities for the year, we had to take a hard look at what structure and roles are needed,” he wrote. “To be clear-eyed, addressing our strategic goals requires making changes to our team. In order to reach our goals, our team must encompass certain types of new skills and expertise without losing momentum.”

Magic Eden had around 140 employees as of the start of this year, according to Pitchbook.

The layoffs follow job cuts last year at NFT platform OpenSea, which laid off 20% of its workforce in July during a crypto market downturn.

They also come at a time when the NFT sector “finds itself at an inflection point,” as PYMNTS wrote last month, as the volume of “minted” NFTs has plunged by 60%, and the volume of active buyers and sellers is a third of the levels seen at the start of 2022.

Meanwhile, sports retailer Fanatics has apparently lost its taste for NFTs, announcing plans in January to sell its majority stake in Candy Digital at a presumed loss.

“Over the past year, it has become clear that NFTs are unlikely to be sustainable or profitable as a standalone business,” Fanatics Executive Chairman Michael Rubin wrote in an internal memo reported by CNBC. “Aside from physical collectibles (trading cards) driving 99% of the business, we believe digital products will have more value and utility when connected to physical collectibles to create the best experience for collectors.”

That isn’t to say the NFT industry is done for, PYMNTS noted, as traditional, institutional players are still showing interest. Amazon is reportedly launching an NFT industry this spring, while Fidelity Investments filed trademark applications in December for an NFT marketplace of its own.

Magic Eden, meanwhile, is soldiering on, also announcing Monday it is working with Web3 payment platform MoonPay to offer customers buying digital collectibles new payment options, CoinDesk reported.

The partnership is aimed to make the process of onboarding new users easier, per the report, and will let users buy NFTs across chains via credit or debit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay, the report stated.

“Our goal is to make NFTs accessible to everyone, enabling individuals to own and control their digital assets,” said Magic Eden Chief Operating Officer Zhuoxun Yin, per the report.