Blockchain.com to close asset-management unit

The exchange and wallet operator Blockchain.com is suspending the activities of its asset-management division after 11 months of operation. This is reported by Bloomberg.

The subsidiary was created in April 2022 soon after Blockchain.com’s funding round closed with a valuation of $14 billion.

According to the statement, the London-based structure has already filed to withdraw its registration in the United Kingdom. Blockchain.com Asset Management has not yet published its annual report.

“As the crypto winter approaches the one-year mark, we have made the business decision to suspend the operation of this institutional product,” said a spokesperson for the parent company.

In July 2022 Blockchain.com cut a quarter of its staff and top executives’ salaries. The moves followed potential losses of $270 million, previously extended as loans to the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The latter filed for bankruptcy.

In January 2023, the company announced a new wave of layoffs.

According to CoinGecko’s report, in the first month of the year 2,806 people lost their jobs in the crypto industry. 84% of the layoffs were concentrated on exchanges. Among those announcing platform optimizations were Coinbase, Crypto.com, Luno and Huobi.

By contrast, Binance said it planned to hire 500 new employees in the first half of the year.