Crypto Exchange Gemini Once Again Lays Off Employees: Report

Crypto exchange Gemini has reportedly laid off an additional 7% of its employees after cutting 10% of its workforce in early June due to "turbulent market conditions." Reports suggest that further layoffs are also possible.

The company led by Winklevoss brothers Tyler and Cameron did not widely reveal the extent of Monday’s layoffs internally, TechCrunch reported.

The crypto startup founded in 2015 rose to popularity after the 2021 crypto boom. However, as the bear market dawned, the exchange started feeling the effects of sluggish trading volumes and as a result, the founders of the firm predicted that crypto winter has arrived.

"This is where we are now, in the contraction phase that is settling into a period of stasis — what our industry refers to as ‘crypto winter.’ This has all been further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil. We are not alone," said the brothers in a statement on June 2.

According to TechCrunch, which gained the knowledge from an unnamed source, the firm's employees saw a downsizing of around 7% or 68 members in Gemini's worldwide Slack channel Monday morning.

The source said that the company is laying off employees due to “extreme cost cutting” and added that an internal operating plan document was shared around the office and on Blind, an anonymous professional network, on July 14. The document stated the company's plans to cut about 150 employees and bring the count to 800, marking a reduction of 15% as the firm had 950 employees at that time.

“It’s come to my attention that at least one team member thinks it’s a good idea to post a snippet of our technology operating plan on a third party website (Blind),” Cameron Winklevoss wrote in a Slack message at the time. “Wow, super lame … if you are leaking company information, you are exhibiting a low level of consciousness and respect for your fellow team members who greatly benefit from the openness we are trying to create and foster here.”

As per messages seen by TechCrunch, Cameron reminded employees of Karma, "the blockchain of the universe" that keeps in check "positive and negative behavior."

“We are going to the moon. We are going to need cosmic consciousness to get there. Earthly consciousness will not be enough,” Winklevoss added. “If you are exhibiting the behavior of a first-time human, time to level-up or respectively bow out, if for no other reason but to avoid an expensive bill in the future.”