NFT marketplace OpenSea downsizes, lays off 20 pc of its staff

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace OpenSea  on Thursday announced that it has downsized its workforce by 20 percent to cut costs amid the economic downturn.

Devin Finzer, Co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, took to Twitter to make the announcement of the layoffs and shared a statement that laid-off employees would receive severance pay and health insurance coverage.

The statement read: "The changes we're making today put us in a position to maintain multiple years of runway under various crypto winter scenarios (five years at the current volume), and give us high confidence that we will only have to go through this process once. "

As per multiple media reports, after reducing the workforce, 230 employees remain at the company. Earlier in January, the firm had raised $300 million at a $13.3 billion valuation, in a round co-led by Coatue and Paradigm.

OpenSea, the world's largest NFT marketplace by volume, slashing its workforce indicates that no company is safe in the crypto-winter period, with mass layoffs being announced at crypto firms and exchanges.

Since June, Coinbase has laid off over 1,100 employees and global crypto firms, including, Gemini, Robinhood, BlockFi, BitMex, Crypto.com, Bybit, Huobi, Banxa, Vauld, and several others, have also resorted to layoffs.

But, other global crypto exchanges, including Binance, Kraken, as well as Ethereum scaling solution Polygon, are hiring thousands of new employees in the midst of the economic downturn.