ConsenSys, the Brooklyn-based Ethereum incubator, today announced it was laying off 14 percent of its workforce in response to the coronavirus crisis. The 91 people who were affected were notified today.
Founder and CEO Joseph Lubin delivered the news at an all-hands meeting over Zoom this morning. “I considered many levers we could pull to weather this storm,” Lubin said. “I consulted numerous people both inside and outside of the company. I pursued conversations with potential investors. I reviewed government assistance programs. I explored ways to collaborate with other projects in the ecosystem.”
An unavoidable move
In the end, however, Lubin said that the layoffs were unavoidable. “Every day we delay difficult decisions further depletes our capacity to realize our mission,” he said.
This is the second time in two months that the company laid off 14% of the staff. In early February, ConsenSys announced a similar reduction in its work force as part of a plan to split the company into two divisions, a software company and an investment arm.
ConsenSys funds Decrypt, which is editorially independent from it. Decrypt was unaffected by the layoffs.