Anchorage Digital lays off 20% of employees as different crypto-friendly banks shutdown

Cryptocurrency financial institution Anchorage Digital will lay off roughly one-fifth of its employees, in response to a report from Bloomberg on March 14.

Anchorage lays off 20% of employees

Bloomberg reported that, based mostly on statements from Anchorage itself, 75 staff amounting to twenty% of the corporate’s employees could be laid off.

Anchorage cited regulatory uncertainties as the rationale for these layoffs and stated that it will deal with its function as an “unequivocal certified custodian.”

Although Anchorage didn’t reveal any explicit regulatory issues, it’s notable that it introduced layoffs shortly after three crypto-adjacent banks closed down or have been shut down by regulators. Silvergate halted all operations on March 8, Silicon Valley Financial institution collapsed on March 10, and Signature Financial institution was closed by regulators on March 13.

Anchorage Digital operates as a federally chartered financial institution. Although Bloomberg drew consideration to Anchorage’s battle with the Workplace of the Comptroller of the Foreign money (OCC) final yr, the agency didn’t state whether or not present occasions will have an effect on its banking capabilities.

Different corporations have carried out layoffs

Whereas Anchorage is the primary agency to carry out layoffs associated to the crypto banking disaster, a number of different corporations have laid off staff because of the normal “crypto winter.”

Among the many largest corporations to take action have been the crypto exchanges Coinbase ⁠— which laid off 950 staff in January — and Crypto.com ⁠— which laid off about 800 staff that very same month. Kraken additionally laid off 1,100 staff in late 2022.

Different corporations which have carried out latest layoffs embrace Huobi, Gemini, Blockchain.com, Genesis, ConsenSys, Bittrex and Chainalysis, and Amber Group. Protocol Labs of Filecoin fame and the now-defunct Silvergate Financial institution additionally carried out employees reductions.

Reviews from January counsel that 23,600 crypto jobs have been lower in 2022, the earlier yr. The primary three months of 2023 add a number of extra thousand job cuts to that statistic.