Yuga Labs Bored Ape
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KEY POINTS

  • Solano said the layoffs were necessary to change what Yuga does and how it does the job
  • At this point, Yuga needs a smaller and "more agile cryptonative team," he said
  • Some prominent names in the NFT space expressed solidarity with Yuga for making a tough choice

Yuga Labs, the team behind the popular non-fungible token (NFT) collection Bored Ape Yacht Club, announced another round of layoffs not even a year after it cut staff, but majority of users in the NFT community expressed solidarity with the development team that now seeks to establish a smaller, crypto-native workforce.

Greg Solano, Yuga Labs' co-founder, made the announcement to staffers Saturday, wherein he said the NFT firm had to implement a restructuring as part of the efforts to "change both what we do and how we do it," as per a screenshot of his message to employees he shared on X (formerly Twitter).

"I owe everyone a frank and honest explanation of what led to this decision. To put it simply: Yuga lost its way," he said. Moving forward, the Yuga needs to a smaller, "more agile cryptonative team," one that has fewer things to do but "does them brilliantly." He went on to explain that in the past two months, he realized "the creative-first spirit that drove this company has been getting muddled by labyrinthine corporate processes."

Solano took responsibility for Yuga reaching a point where it had to make a "big change." He thanked departing staffers and said that employees who were chosen to stay but "don't want to be part of" the next phase of Yuga that will be "all about speed, agility, and commitment," will be offered the same severance package for laid off workers. He did not reveal how many employees were being let go.

The crypto and NFT community on X huddled under Solano's post, expressing sadness over the layoffs, with many lauding the team for recognizing that it diverted from its initial goals.

A renowned NFT investor who goes by Franklin, said he was hoping "it's majority up only from here." Rice Farmer, the pseudonymous founder of Ohayo Labs, said "Yuga was always better with less people." The X handle of cryptocurrency and NFT influencer JRNY Crypto, noted that smaller team focused on "the same vision" work better than "unaligned" corporate teams, especially in the NFT space.

Others in the NFT and crypto circle called for "empathy" for affected employees. Pratik Kadam, the co-founder of The Colony collectibles, offered to speak with developers or other personnel affected by the layoffs as he grows his team.

Other prominent names in the NFT space also expressed solidarity with Yuga Labs and wished affected staffers the best of luck.

Yuga Labs last went through a restructuring in October 2023. At the time, then-CEO Daniel Alegre said the new team would focus on Otherside, the metaverse project that Yuga started working on in March 2022.

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