Digital asset exchange and custodian
Gemini President
“It was our hope to avoid further reductions after this summer, however, persistent negative macroeconomic conditions and unprecedented fraud perpetuated by bad actors in our industry have left us with no other choice but to revise our outlook and further reduce headcount.”
Gemini
In a message to its employees, Gemini said:
“We have spent a large part of the last six months future-proofing Gemini by right-sizing our headcount and manager-to-builder ratio, reducing our OpEx, and fostering a culture that does more with less. It’s now time to look ahead and redouble our focus on building the future.”
Gemini is not the only company to lay off employees as a protective measure in the current market conditions.
For Gemini, the burning point has been the bankruptcy of crypto lender Genesis Global Capital. Back in 2020, Genesis and Gemini signed an agreement to offer Gemini customers, including retail investors in the US, an opportunity to loan their crypto assets to Genesis in exchange for Genesis’ promise to pay interest. Further, in February 2021, Genesis and Gemini began offering the Gemini Earn program to retail investors, whereby Gemini Earn investors tendered their crypto assets to Genesis, with Gemini acting as the agent to facilitate the transaction.
The companies were doing pretty well in the Earn program until November 2022. Unfortunately, the Earn customers could not gain access to their funds as Genesis closed withdrawals following the implosion of the FTX Derivatives Exchange. Gemini halted withdrawals, which affected Gemini’s customers whose funds were locked up in the Earn program. Further, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (
On January 19, Genesis