Chainalysis cuts 15% of its workforce amid challenging market conditions, marking its second wave of layoffs in a year.
Chainalysis, the well-known blockchain analysis firm, has announced a massive layoff of 15% of its workforce, approximately 150 employees.The majority of reductions will come from marketing and business development teams focused on the private sector.
Reductions in response to market conditions
This move, cushioned as a response to the “current market conditions,” marks the second wave of staff reductions over the last year by the New York-based company.
Specializing in the tracking and analyzing of cryptocurrency transactions, Chainalysis employs around 900 workers. About a year ago, the company reduced its staff by an additional 5%, pointing out the growing challenges the cryptocurrency sector is facing.
This wave of layoffs is not an isolated occurrence. Blockchain and cryptocurrency firms worldwide, including well-known names like Coinbase and Robinhood, are compelled to scale down their operations due to the so-called crypto winter, a phase of marked decline in cryptocurrency prices that led to widespread bankruptcies.
The Sterlingov case, another controversy
Chainalysis has recently also been embroiled in another controversies in the United States. The firm is involved in the case against Roman Sterlingov, an alleged money launderer. Sterlingov was thrown in jail after Chainalysis’ software Reactor found a correlation between him and an early bitcoin custodial mixer, Bitcoin Fog, but a company executive testified that she is unaware of the software’s scientific reliability.
