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Non-fungible token (“NFT”) marketplace OpenSea is laying off 20% of its headcount in the wake of a crypto market downturn as well as “macroeconomic instability,” CEO and Co-founder Devin Finzer wrote in a Twitter post Thursday afternoon.
That leaves OpenSea with 230 employees, a person familiar with the matter told Seeking Alpha.
“The reality is that we have entered an unprecedented combination of crypto winter and broad macroeconomic instability, and we need to prepare the company for the possibility of a prolonged downturn,” Finzer wrote in a note he shared with his team earlier.
The people leaving OpenSea will be given “generous severance, healthcare coverage into 2023, and accelerated equity vesting for those who haven’t hit their cliff,” according to Finzer.
The move allows OpenSea to maintain five years of runway under different crypto winter scenarios, Finzer noted.
The company is joining a raft of crypto-focused firms that have recently laid off staff to better manage costs, including Coinbase Global (COIN), Banxa, Bullish, Celsius, Genesis, Crypto.com (CRO-USD), BlockFi, Bitpanda and 2TM.
In mid-June, OpenSea moved to Seaport protocol in effort to reduce gas fees.
