The digital asset management platform Abra cut 12 jobs “solely for cost-saving purposes.” CEO Bill Barhydt told The Block.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Barhydt did not specify which kinds of specialists the company needs. At present, about 10 vacancies are open, he added.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Autumn 2015 Abra received $12 million in funding, including from American Express Ventures.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
In May 2020 Abra received funding of $5 million from the Stellar Development Foundation.<\/p>\n
In September 2021 the platform closed a Series C funding round for $55 million<\/a> with participants including Blockchain Capital, Kingsway Capital, Stellar Development Foundation and others.<\/p>\n Earlier, BitMEX<\/a>, Robinhood<\/a>, Gemini<\/a>, Bitso<\/a> and the parent company of Brazilian exchange Mercado Bitcoin Mercado Bitcoin<\/a> also announced staff cuts.<\/p>\n Coinbase will cut about 18% of its staff<\/a>, crypto-lending platform BlockFi \u2014 by 20%<\/a>.<\/p>\n In June, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek said he planned to to lay off around 260 employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to some reports, Bybit<\/a> and Huobi<\/a> also plan to cut staff by 30%, while the regulated bitcoin exchange OSL decided to lay off 40 to 60 employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n