Crypto Firm Galaxy Digital to Reduce Headcount by 20%

In the midst of the “crypto winter,” cryptocurrency financial services company Galaxy Digital is reportedly going to cut at least 20% of its global workforce.

The layoffs would follow the August report from Galaxy Digital that its net loss in the second quarter was $554.7 million and that its assets under management had dropped 40% from the prior quarter, CoinDesk reported Tuesday (Nov. 1), citing unnamed sources for the news of planned cuts.

Galaxy Digital is set to report its results for the third quarter on Nov. 9.

A Galaxy spokesperson reportedly told CoinDesk: “While our industry continues to face macroeconomic headwinds, Galaxy remains focused on building for the future state of institutional adoption and on enhancing long-term shareholder value. We are always considering optimal team structure and strategy and will share future plans when finalized.”

Between the beginning of April and Oct. 14, crypto companies have shed 11,700 jobs, per the CoinDesk report, which based that estimate on media reports and press releases.

PYMNTS has reached out to Galaxy Digital for comment.

As PYMNTS reported Oct. 6, this year has seen several crypto companies lay off workers amid a market downturn.

These included reports that Crypto.com reduced its headcount by more than 2,000, which equaled 30% to 40% of its staff.

In addition, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced in June that the company was eliminating 1,100 jobs, amounting to about 18% of its workforce, while crypto exchange Gemini cut 10% of its staff around the same time.

On July 19, Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz criticized the crypto industry’s “inane risk management” after the $48 billion collapse of the Terra/Luna stablecoin ecosystem in May and the about $1 trillion drop in the crypto industry’s market cap.

Speaking broadly, Novogratz said “companies took massive leverage, took asset liability mismatch — which mean they had short-term deposits on what they lent them out long — and those are the two ways people always go bankrupt.”