On Monday, The Foundry, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool, announced a massive layoff, laying off nearly 60% of its workforce. The decision, confirmed by a report from Blockspace, affects US and international employees, reducing the company’s headcount from more than 250 to around 80-90 employees.
Foundry Focused on Core Business
Sources familiar with the matter, identified by Blockspace, revealed that the layoffs are part of an “innovation strategy” aimed at strengthening Foundry’s core revenue-generating activities.
According to the shareholders’ letter from the owner’s association Digital Currency Group (DCG), Foundry is expected to generate $80 million in revenue from its mining business by 2024. A statement from the Foundry said:
We recently made a strategic decision to focus Foundry on our core business—operating the world’s #1 Bitcoin mining pool and growing our platform business—while supporting the development of new DCG subsidiaries.
Despite the layoffs, key divisions are still in place. Bitcoin for Foundry mining poolcurrently comprising 30% of the total hashrate of the Bitcoin network, it continues to be its most notable line of business.
Additionally, the operations of the mining pool, firmware team, and mining division are still strong, although the company has eliminated all of its ASIC and hardware maintenance teams.
Demolition Follows Genesis Collapse
The layoffs come after a tumultuous period for Foundry and its parent company, Digital Currency Group. Following the fall of Genesisa subsidiary of Barry Silbert’s firm, Foundry had split into several business lines, including custom hardware and decentralized AI infrastructure.
Last week, the company also transferred about 20 employees to a new DCG subsidiary, Yuma, an artificial intelligence (AI) startup led by DCG and Barry Silbert, who is also acting CEO of the new business.
Founded in 2017 as part of the Digital Currency Group conglomerate, Foundry has been seen as a key player in Bitcoin. mining industryit previously offered competitive mining fee rates and even extended 0% fees to its largest customers.
However, the company has faced challenges, including defaulting on Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) debt that has contributed to the struggles of its mining segment.
The latest layoffs mark a critical time in Foundry’s journey, reflecting broader trends within the cryptocurrency space as companies grapple with regulatory pressures and market volatility.
At the time of writing, the market’s leading crypto, Bitcoin, is trading at $95,570, covering the past 10 days below its record high of $99,540, which has remained elusive ever since, preventing the cryptocurrency from reaching the $100,000 milestone .
Currently, BTC shows no change from yesterday’s price. However, in the long term, the cryptocurrency still recorded significant gains, especially in the monthly period when it increased by almost 40%.
Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com
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