Crypto hiring: More layoffs at ATMTA, Dorsey’s Block gains new board member

Reports of layoffs at crypto companies dominated the headlines this week. 

Among them is Blockchain gaming company ATMTA, which cut positions by about 80% compared to its peak in late 2022. 

After laying off 122 employees in the latest round, ATMTA CEO Michael Wagner said in a letter that a core team of 45 people would remain. That team, Wagner said, will focus on building Star Atlas, an upcoming blockchain-based game.

Wagner reiterated that ATMTA was impacted by the FTX collapse, which perhaps spurred the first round of layoffs that began in December. One notable departure was Estefan Vazquez, the former head of growth for Star Atlas.

“We lost approximately $15 million from our treasury with the collapse of FTX, which represented a significant portion of our liquid cash balance. Even with the recovery in January of a sizable portion of those funds, our runway was greatly reduced,” Wagner wrote in his letter.

KuCoin is reportedly laying off about 30% of its workforce of nearly 1,000 employees, crypto journalist Colin Wu reported Tuesday. Wu cited three employees with knowledge of the situation.

When reached for comment following Wu’s report, KuCoin denied the layoff characterization.

In June, KuCoin made know-your-customer verification mandatory, a move that came months after New York Attorney General Letitia James sued the Seychelles-based company for operating as an unregistered securities and commodities broker-dealer.

Block makes changes to its board

Block, the financial services company behind Cash App, Square and Spiral, appointed Neha Narula to its board of directors on Thursday, according to an SEC filing. 

Block also increased the size of the number of directors on the board from 11 to 12 with Narula’s appointment. 

Narula was selected for her “valuable experience” in the field of Bitcoin and open-source technology, according to the filing. She has served as the director of the Digital Currency Initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology since January 2017. 

“Neha’s passion for building intuitive, scaled systems to move money across the Internet efficiently fits into our company’s purpose,” Block CEO Jack Dorsey said in a statement. 

Other notable hirings

• The Wyoming Stable Token Commission is looking for an executive director. The job involves managing and leading the new government agency.
• The UK’s National Crime Agency is hiring an investigations manager for cryptocurrency and digital assets.
• Former Dapper Labs executive Alison Kutler has left the NFT world to take a position with FanDuel. She’ll serve as the company’s sustainability and responsible gaming head. Dapper Labs laid off 51 employees and contractors in mid-July.

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