Filecoin’s Protocol Labs lays off one-fifth of staff

Protocol Labs has become the latest cryptocurrency company to perform major layoffs. February 3rd Report from Forbes.

The company has reportedly laid off 89 people, representing 21% or about one-fifth of its workforce. The company cited deteriorating market conditions and macroeconomic challenges related to Filecoin dynamics as reasons for the layoffs.

Protocol Labs has not officially announced the layoffs. Instead, Forbes got the information from documents provided by the fired employee.

Protocol Labs is perhaps best known for Filecoin, a blockchain that rewards decentralized storage providers in cryptocurrency. Filecoin raised $205 million when he ran his ICO in 2017. This surpasses what other similar token sales have raised at the time. Filecoin is still one of the 35 largest crypto assets with a market capitalization of his $2.1 billion.

The company is also known for IPFS, a decentralized storage network that does not integrate cryptocurrencies but is often used alongside Ethereum. Infura notably provides an API gateway for both networks. Some of his Ethereum apps such as Peepeth also store data on his IFPS.

Protocol Labs is just one of several companies to cut jobs this winter. Companies like Silvergate, ConsenSys, Gemini, Huobi and Coinbase are doing so.