Digital asset investment company Valkyrie Investment Inc. has announced massive job cuts to its workforce to survive the unsavory macroeconomic trends in the industry. The firm stated that it will be letting go of 30% of its staff in a bid to operate on a leaner budget while setting its sights on new offerings.
“Our management team did a thorough review of asset growth year to date and reviewed every employee’s role and contribution,” said Valkyrie CEO Leah Wald. “Fortunately, the existing team has been thriving, and the transition was seamless and without disruption.”
Valkyrie had a 23-man workforce which is a lot leaner than other firms facing similar job cuts in the industry. Wald told Bloomberg that legal, operations, investor relations, and portfolio management teams were largely unaffected by the staff pruning, with the sales and marketing teams bearing the brunt.
The company stated that the bear market forced its hand because “it is hard to sell” under these circumstances with decreased demand. Wald stated that the company would be scanning the horizon to see if further changes are needed given the present market conditions.
Valkyrie was the second firm to gain approval to launch a future-based BTC exchange traded fund (ETF) from the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, the firm liquidated the Valkyrie Balance Sheet Opportunities ETF, which garnered assets of around $860,000 before closure. Other ETFs still running under the firm include the Valkyrie Bitcoin Strategy ETF (BTF) and the Valkyrie Bitcoin Miners ETF.
“We feel firms that have opportunistically established themselves at this point of the economic cycle will prosper moving forward, much like previous periods of distress in the last 25 years,” said Wald.
The avalanche of job cuts
Several firms have had to cut down the sizes of their workforce across the tech industry, but digital asset exchanges have contributed their quota to the downsizing spree. In recent months, Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN), Crypto.com, Gemini, and Blockfi announced major job cuts, while others announced hiring freezes as the industry grappled with the collapse of some firms.
Recently, Digital Currency Group restructured its operations, leading to the exit of several employees from the conglomerate. It is widely expected that FTX’s recent implosion would lead to a chain reaction of more firms laying off their staff due to the spread of the contagion.
While some firms are left with no other option but to trim their size, Binance has announced a steady increase in its staff strength to cater to its expansionist ambitions.
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