The CEO of dYdX declares a 35% reduction in the workforce

Swiss decentralized trading platform dYdX has announced a 35% reduction in its core workforce.

The platform’s CEO Antonio Juliano initially shared the news in a short post on X, calling the decision “sad” and promising to provide a more measured rationale for action later.

A thinner dYdX

In the social media post, the CEO emphasized that the layoffs were not a financial decision, a point reinforced in a subsequent blog post titled “Letting go.” Here, Juliano attributed the departures to the need to build a tighter team to help dYdX achieve its long-term goals:

“Today, I made the incredibly difficult decision to lay off 35% of dYdX’s core team. We now have the team we need to move forward, but first we say goodbye to those who have left.”

He also noted that the company had strayed from the original vision that birthed it, and the job cuts were necessary to bring “clarity” and “renewed passion” to the project.

The post did not explicitly state who from the dYdX team was being let go. The company’s official website says it has about 50 employees, many of whom come from big tech backgrounds including Google, Amazon and Facebook.

Additionally, despite the terminations, dYdX is hiring for a variety of roles, including Principal Business Infrastructure Engineer, Senior Product Designer, and various Software Engineer positions.

The project has been seven years in the making and, until 2023, it was on Inc magazine’s list of the best places to work.

The exits coincide with the return of the CEO

The downsizing comes just over a week after Juliano returned to dYdX leadership after a six-month hiatus. Upon his return, he declared that he would go into “Founder Mode” to personally run the decentralized assembly.

He cited the platform’s challenging year, where it endured a tough market compounded by tough competition, which made it necessary for it to come back and “revitalize it”.

The company has faced competition from projects like Hyperliquid, which has rapidly expanded its market presence in recent months. According to DefiLlama, its current Total Locked Value (TVL) stands at $859.29 million, while dYdX is $287.61 million, down more than 50% from its peak in year reached in March.

Incidentally, the layoffs also come just as ConsenSys announced a 20% reduction in its own workforce. However, MetaMask’s creator claimed that his decision was driven by the ongoing regulatory climate, particularly the policies of the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which he argued hinder innovation in the crypto space.

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