The crypto-custody infrastructure provider Qredo, facing difficult finances, has cut 50% of its staff. The Block reports, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Following a Series A funding round of $80 million in February 2022, the startup was valued at $460 million.
Runway at Qredo runs out in six months, so it is actively seeking new funding, including exploring opportunities for strategic mergers and acquisitions, according to sources. They say 10T Holdings, the lead Series A investor, is helping the startup.
In September, Qredo laid off about 50 people, citing a prolonged crypto-winter and a focus on developing the core protocol and the custodial Web3-business.
“In the second half of 2022 and in the first quarter of 2023, Qredo’s average monthly transactional activity amounted to $2.5 billion — during that year this activity declined in line with overall market activity,” said the startup’s representative at the time.
Cuts continued in October. The company now employs about 50 people, versus more than 200 at the start of the year, sources said.
Qredo was founded in 2018 and has raised about $94 million in venture funding. In July 2021 the company also raised $35 million through a QRDO token sale. Qredo’s venture investors include Coinbase Ventures, Avalanche, Kingsway Capital and GoldenTree Asset Management.
According to CoinGecko, QRDO has fallen almost 100% from its peak price of $9.81 in November 2021 to around $0.04 at the time of writing. Fully diluted value of the token stands at just over $66 million.
In October, Parity Technologies, the firm behind Polkadot, announced a 30% reduction in staff as part of a plan to shift focus to its own technologies.
In the same month, the layoff of 150 employees was announced by Chainalysis, a security-focused company.