Crypto exchange Gemini slashes staff for second time in seven weeks

A major cryptocurrency platform run by the Winklevoss twins has made a second round of staff cuts amid the crypto crash.

Cryptocurrency exchange platform Gemini has announced a second round of job cuts in as little as seven weeks. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Crypto exchange network Gemini has made a second round of lay-offs in as little as seven weeks.

TechCrunch reports that a further 68 employees, or 7 per cent of the company’s staff, were cut, based on the reduction in the platform’s company-wide Slack channel on Monday morning.

It’s understood the changes were made due to “extreme cost-cutting measures,” TechCrunch reports.

This comes after June cuts saw 10 per cent of the workforce leave the company.

At that time, all affected employees were provided a separation package and continued healthcare benefits. Amid the lay-offs, Gemini closed their physical offices so the identities of those let go would be respected.

“Our highest priority throughout will be to treat everyone affected with compassion and respect,” wrote company co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in an email to staff.

Gemini co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. Picture: Angela Weiss/AFP

Staff reduction plan leaked

Ahead of the staff cuts, TechCrunch reports that a plan to bring Gemini’s employee figures to 800 were publicly posted online, which would equate to a reduction of around 15 per cent.

The move was blasted by Cameron Winklevoss.

“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),” he wrote in a slack message.

“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.”

A snippet of the message that was sent to staff prior to the initial round of staff cuts. Picture: Gemini

However, as it stands neither of Gemini’s founders have publicly addressed the latest round.

After the previous lay-offs, the billionaire twins shared a public blog post in which they addressed the “current, turbulent market conditions,” which led to the job cuts.

“After much thought and consideration, we have made the difficult but necessary decision to part ways with approximately 10 per cent of our workforce,” they wrote.

“Today is a tough day, but one that will make Gemini better over the long run. Constraint is the mother of innovation and difficult times are a forcing function for focus, which is critical to the success of any start-up.”

Stark warning about ‘crypto winter’

The Gemini staff cuts come as other crypto companies have faced staff changes and cost-cutting challenges amid a “crypto winter” – something which the Gemini co-founders quoted amid the previous cuts.

Compounded by what the Winklevoss brothers referred to as “macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil,” they said the “sharp contractions” and a “period of stasis,” were to be expected after cryptocurrency’s ‘dramatic hypergrowth’.

The Gemini co-founders said movement and fluctuations in the cryptocurrency space was to be expected. Picture: Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images For Entertainment Weekly.

In lieu of the market turmoil, several crypto experts have shared bleak predictions for the alternative currency.

Recently, prominent crypto trader and the founder and chief executive of Binance Changpeng ‘CZ’ Zhao said he believed that bitcoin would not surpass its all-time high for at least another two years.

From November 2021 to now, the cryptocurrency has dropped from around $US69,000 ($A99,000) to $US18,000 ($A25,300) this month.

“I think given this price drop, from the all-time high of $US68,000 to $US20,000 now, it will probably take a while to get back,” he told The Guardian.

“It probably will take a few months or a couple of years.”

Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, State Street Digital Asia-Pacific lead Irfan Ahmad said the current “crypto winter,” was the most severe, likening it to a “polar vortex”. Although he believed that prominent tokens like bitcoin and ethereum will survive, there are likely to be a few dramatic changes.

“It is the fourth crypto winter and the most severe given wider adoption – we are referring to it as a polar vortex,” he said.

“There is going to be an evolution of the players and the protocols in the market.”