The digital asset management platform Abra cut 12 jobs “solely for cost-saving purposes.” CEO Bill Barhydt told The Block.
According to him, the optimization affected about 5% of the platform’s total workforce. The executive added that the move would not affect Abra’s plans to hire more staff.
Barhydt did not specify which kinds of specialists the company needs. At present, about 10 vacancies are open, he added.
Abra is one of the veterans of the cryptocurrency industry. The firm has been operating since 2014, initially offering an app for remittances between the Philippines and the United States.
Autumn 2015 Abra received $12 million in funding, including from American Express Ventures.
Subsequently the company expanded geographically: in 2016 it entered the U.S. market, and some time later added the option to invest using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in traditional financial instruments.
In May 2020 Abra received funding of $5 million from the Stellar Development Foundation.
In September 2021 the platform closed a Series C funding round for $55 million with participants including Blockchain Capital, Kingsway Capital, Stellar Development Foundation and others.
Earlier, BitMEX, Robinhood, Gemini, Bitso and the parent company of Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin Mercado Bitcoin also announced staff cuts.
Coinbase will cut about 18% of its staff, crypto-lending platform BlockFi — by 20%.
In June, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said he planned to to lay off around 260 employees.
According to some reports, Bybit and Huobi also plan to cut staff by 30%, while the regulated bitcoin exchange OSL decided to lay off 40 to 60 employees.
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