Cryptocurrency companies have always faced the threat of closure due to regulatory uncertainty or price losses. This is exactly what Consensys, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency companies is now facing.
New reports showed that Consensys had laid off a major chunk of their workforce as the cryptocurrency world continued to show how dynamic it is.
The organization stated that it had let go of 14 percent of its entire staff, prompting the Ethereum community to speculate about its future. Consensys revealed that they would also undergo a major business model restructuring. The official statement read:
“Over the past year, ConsenSys undertook a deep strategic review and articulated two separate strategies to grow and support the ecosystem as a software company and a separate investment company.”
This was not the first time that Consensys had announced such a drastic change as it came on the back of a previous 13 percent layoff in December 2018. During that time, the company’s employee count was at 1000. After the initial lay-off announcement, the company said that they will implement 5 core pillars to transition to Consensys 2.0.
Sources close to the company claimed that the main reason for the layoffs was the lack of space for capital management. The split in efforts was a result of difficulties in raising money for a company that was involved in both investment and software development.
Consensys claimed that they will continue to operate on a software business model comprising of its products optimized for a modular stack. This includes PegaSys, Infura, MetaMask, Codefi and others. Consensys stated:
“The business is focused on two goals: providing developer tools and infrastructure for the developer, decentralized finance, and startup communities; and helping enterprises in the financial services, trade finance, and commerce sectors deploy and operationalize blockchain solutions.”
The Solution and Marketing wings of the company will directly support the software business and continue to perform complex sales activities. Along with this they will also drive developer and community initiatives. Consensys will continue the transition from its venture production moel and release a number of internally funded projects into the Consensys Investments portfolio.
What Consensys was lacking on the employee front, it sure made up for in updates and developments. The company was now trying to enter the massive $3.8 trillion municipal debt market. It had also released information about its acquisition of Heritage Financial Systems, a broker-dealer.