The crypto industry has laid off hundreds of people over several weeks, with both AI and the bear market cited as excuses.

Author: CoinDesk

Translation & Editing: TechFlow

TechFlow Intro: Algorand, Gemini, Crypto.com, and OP Labs have all announced layoffs within weeks. Officially, half the cited reasons point to “deteriorating macroeconomic conditions,” while the other half cite “AI replacing human labor.”

Yet the founder of a crypto recruitment firm cut straight to the core: these layoffs have little to do with AI—and instead reflect a broader contraction across entire sectors—restaking, DePIN, and L2s.

A channel blogger warns that actual layoff numbers are far higher than publicly disclosed figures.

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Key Takeaways

• Algorand, Gemini, Block, Crypto.com, OP Labs, PIP Labs, and Messari have all recently announced layoffs.
• Stated reasons range from depressed token prices to AI integration.
• Messari has completed its third round of layoffs since 2023, reducing headcount from a target of 1,000 employees to approximately 140 today.

The Algorand Foundation joined the wave of crypto layoffs on Wednesday, cutting 25% of its team of fewer than 200 people, citing an “uncertain global macroeconomic environment” and broader downturn in the crypto market.

This move comes amid a spreading industry-wide layoff trend. In February, Gemini Space Station announced roughly 200 job cuts—about one-quarter of its workforce—and by mid-March, that figure had expanded to 30%. On Thursday, Crypto.com announced it would cut 12% of its staff—approximately 180 positions.

Earlier this month, OP Labs—the team building the L2 blockchain Optimism—cut 20 employees. PIP Labs, the team behind Story Protocol, laid off five full-time employees and three contractors, representing 10% of its total workforce. Messari—a crypto data provider that now brands itself as an AI-first company—announced its third round of layoffs since 2023 alongside a CEO transition, though it did not disclose specific numbers.

Official explanations vary across companies. Algorand explicitly cited macroeconomic conditions and weak token performance, while many others framed layoffs as part of a broader shift toward integrating AI into workflows.

“AI is simply too powerful for Gemini not to use,” the company stated in its letter to shareholders. “Not using AI at Gemini will soon be like showing up to work with a typewriter instead of a laptop.”

“We’re joining the ranks of companies enterprise-wide integrating AI,” a Crypto.com spokesperson told CoinDesk on Thursday, noting that efficiency gains reduced staffing needs. CEO Kris Marszalek wrote on X that companies failing to adopt AI integration will fail.

Algorand’s layoffs reportedly affected community management and business development roles—positions not obviously susceptible to AI replacement. To be fair, the company attributed the cuts to broader crypto market conditions. Its ALGO token recently traded around $0.09—down 98% from its 2019 peak. Bitcoin—the largest cryptocurrency by market cap—has fallen 20% this quarter.

Industry Consolidation

Industry observers point to broader consolidation dynamics. Entire crypto sectors that once boasted abundant talent—such as restaking, DePIN, and L2s—have contracted sharply. Meanwhile, rising M&A activity is exacerbating redundancy, as acquired companies’ employees replace existing staff.

“I’m not seeing any real evidence linking these layoffs to large-scale AI-driven labor displacement,” said Dan Escow, founder of crypto recruitment firm Up Top. “Entire sectors—restaking, DePIN, and L2s—that were once talent-rich essentially no longer exist. Companies are forced into cost-cutting mode, buying time to figure out their next steps.”

The broader hiring landscape supports this view. In January, major crypto job boards posted roughly 6.5 new positions per day—down about 80% year-on-year.

Just the companies named in this article—excluding Messari, which didn’t disclose numbers—have announced approximately 450 job cuts over recent weeks. That may only be the tip of the iceberg. During the 2022 crypto winter, CoinDesk tracked over 26,000 job losses across the year—a figure that took months to fully surface.