Half Of Consensys Staff Might Face The Axe

By Rishma Banerjee

ConsenSys, a blockchain software technology company founded by Joseph Lubin based in Brooklyn, New York, has recently announced a restructuring of their staff. As per reports, from trusted sources, the ethereum venture studio is now spinning out or cutting off funding which had been allocated for quite a few of their portfolio startups, or “spokes” in company parlance.  The Verge, on the other hand, reported that roughly 50 percent of ConsenSys’ 1,200-person workforce could possibly face the axe, due to the move. Though these figures could not be confirmed, many sources have said that these additional staff cut were indeed to take place.

This news comes after the announcement regarding the 150 layoffs, which consists of about 13 percent of the total strength of the company, as was revealed earlier this month. Employees are also under the hunch that more cuts will follow, while one source informed that Consensys was giving some of their spokes the option to terminate work along with a severance package or to seek external investment. So far, the company has refused to answer any questions regarding the cut.

This initiative may be the most notable development of the company since the announcement of Joe Lubin’s vision for “Consensys 2.0”, last month. Consensys 2.0 will apparently be different in the sense that they were “are going to focus much more rigorously across the different business lines on accountability, that includes financial sustainability.”

The company, over the years, has grown at a tremendous rate, earning global recognition. Forbes, in a recent profile, estimated that the company’s annual burn rate was over $100 million. Investor Jeanna Liu in a comment, regarding the issue, said:

“At best this is just ordinary course fat trimming given the company grew its workforce by at least 300% in the past year to 1,200 people… At worst this could indicate internal disorganization and poor currency risk hedging (ie not converting sufficient ether to fiat). Let’s hope it’s the former.”