Winklevoss twins Gemini is laying off 10% of its staff, said that ‘crypto winter’ arrived

• Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, billionaire bitcoiners, are laying off 10% of Gemini’s workers.
• Twins stated that the business is in a “contraction phase” known as “crypto winter,” which has been  “further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil.”

Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, billionaire bitcoiners, are laying off 10% of Gemini’s workers, a first for the US-based cryptocurrency exchange and custodian.

In a blog post published Thursday morning, the twins stated that the business is in a “contraction phase” known as “crypto winter,” which has been  “further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil.”

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“We are not alone,” the message went on to say. Coinbase, another cryptocurrency exchange, recently revealed that income had dropped 27 percent year on year, as did overall usage.

The crypto market has had a rough few weeks. The market valuation of the sector was reduced by half a trillion dollars when terraUSD, one of the most popular US dollar-pegged stablecoins, crashed nearly overnight. It is uncertain whether this recent rout signals the start of the next crypto winter (a multiyear bear market that occurs on a cyclical basis for the crypto asset class), but declining trade volumes on crypto exchanges are one clue that we may be on the way.

The previous so-called crypto winter lasted from 2018 through the fall of 2020, when the value of cryptocurrencies plummeted and layoffs were common.

According to PitchBook, Gemini, which has been active since 2014 and is valued at $7.1 billion as of its most recent fundraising round, has 1,033 employees on its payroll, which translates to around 100 individuals affected by today’s layoffs. CNBC contacted Gemini to inquire about the precise figure, but the press team declined to comment beyond the blog post.

In terms of next actions, Gemini closed its physical premises today to preserve employee privacy. Individual meetings about parting packages and health care benefits will be scheduled for affected team members. On Friday, surviving staff will gather for a “company-wide standup” to discuss the company’s future.

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According to the message, Gemini wants to focus on products that are vital to its purpose, and team leaders will determine if their teams are “right-sized” for the  “current, turbulent market conditions that are likely to persist for some time.”

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