Crypto.com’s AI Campaign Triggers 12% Cut to Staff

Crypto.com is cutting around 12% of its workforce as it concentrates more on AI.

The job cuts are the result of the company joining other firms who are “integrating enterprise-wide AI,” company CEO Kris Marszalek said in announcing the layoffs Thursday (March 19) in a post on social media platform X.

“Companies that do not make this pivot immediately will fail,” he wrote. “Companies that move slowly will be left behind. Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top-performers will achieve a level of scale and precision that was previously impossible. This is where we must go.”

The affected roles are ones that “do not adapt in our new world,” Marszalek continued.

The cuts are the latest in a series of layoffs in the digital finance business, driven by efforts to incorporate artificial intelligence amid an ongoing downturn in the price of cryptocurrency.

Gemini announced a 25% reduction in staff earlier this year, while Block announced last month it would lay off almost 40% of its workforce. As PYMNTS wrote, the company’s move is in line with a larger transition happening at technology and financial services firms as AI increasingly handles things like document automation and customer support.

Against this backdrop, “the amount of human labor required for certain workflows changes,” that report said. “Organizations are reassessing team size relative to output.”

Meanwhile, the tendency of companies to tie layoffs to AI investment has led to some skepticism about “AI washing.”

“Companies are saying that ‘we’re anticipating that we’re going to introduce AI that will take over these jobs.’ But it hasn’t happened yet. So that’s one reason to be skeptical,” Peter Cappelli, a professor at the Wharton School, told The New York Times last month.

A report late last year from outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that AI had been mentioned as a contributor in more than 48,000 job cuts in the first 11 months of 2025.

Other recent layoffs along these lines include cuts at Pinterest, which said in late January it was cutting 15% of its staff as it focuses on “prioritizing AI-powered products and capabilities.”

Amazon said soon after that it was cutting 16,000 jobs worldwide. While the company has said its move was related to lowering bureaucracy, many analysts believe Amazon is letting go of staff to save money for investments in AI.

And this weekend saw a report that Meta was considering sweeping layoffs as it continues to invest heavily in AI projects.