NFT marketplace OpenSea to slash 20% of jobs amid ‘crypto winter’

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) displayed on the NFT Marketplace OpenSea website can be viewed through a magnifying glass. This illustration was taken on February 28, 2022. REUTERS / Florence Lo / Illustration / File Photo

July 15 (Reuters)-Non-fungible token (NFT) market OpenSea announced Thursday that it will cut about 20% of its employees to cut costs in the face of a long-term downturn in the digital asset market. did.

Devin Finzer, CEO, said in a Twitter statement, “In reality, we’re in an unprecedented combination of cryptocurrency winters and widespread macroeconomic instability. Possibility of a long-term recession. We need to prepare the company for it. “

NFTs are digital assets that exist on the blockchain and include everything from artwork to text and tweets. read more

OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, experienced explosive sales growth in 2021 as the rise in cryptocurrencies created a new group of crypto-rich speculators.

However, the market for NFTs has been sluggish in recent months as cryptocurrency prices plummeted and investors abandoned risky assets.

OpenSea’s NFT sales on the Ethereum blockchain plummeted to $ 700 million in June, down from $ 2.6 billion in May and far from its January peak of nearly $ 5 billion. .. read more

Finzer said headcount reductions could sustain five years of growth in current quantities under a variety of potential recession scenarios.

Companies focused on other crypto and digital assets, including Coinbase Global (COIN.O)I have been forced to reduce my work in the last few weeks. read more

Report by Lisa Paulin Matakkar of Bangalore and Elizabeth Howcroft of London. Edited by Devika Syamnath

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