Crypto Lender Genesis Lays Off 30% More of Its Staff

Genesis Global Trading laid off more employees on Thursday, a spokesperson for the crypto-trading firm confirmed in a statement to CoinDesk.

A person familiar with the matter said Genesis eliminated about 30% of its workers, taking it down to 145 employees. Genesis previously cut 20% of its workforce of 260 in August.

The sales and business-development departments have been especially hard hit, the person added.

“As we continue to navigate unprecedented industry challenges, Genesis has made the difficult decision to reduce our headcount globally,” a Genesis spokesperson said in a statement. “These measures are part of our ongoing efforts to move our business forward. We sincerely appreciate the hard work of our talented and dedicated team as we continue to work to identify the best outcome for Genesis’s business, clients and employees for the long term.”

The layoffs come after the company sent a letter to its clients on Wednesday saying it would be “reducing costs and driving efficiencies” during a challenging climate for crypto firms.

Genesis, a subsidiary of crypto conglomerate Digital Currency Group (which is also the parent company of CoinDesk), has been harmed by the widespread market collapse resulting from failure of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange. In November, Genesis revealed its derivatives business had $175 million in funds unable to be withdrawn. The firm later announced that its lending arm would be halting its own customer withdrawals.

The firm’s August layoffs came after the company filed a $1.2 billion claim against failed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.