MetaMask’s parent company, ConsenSys, has let go of 11% of its workforce, and CEO Joseph Lubin has blamed “uncertain market conditions” brought on by the recent collapse.
In a Jan. 18 blog post by Joseph Lubin, CEO of ConsenSys, the blockchain company’s CEO said that the “bad” Centralized Finance (CeFi) actors are “an ecological problem that we all need to work on.” It casts a big shadow on the system.”
Lubin said the decision affects 96 employees and is part of a plan to focus resources on core businesses.
Today, we have to make a very difficult decision to streamline some teams at ConsenSys to adapt to difficult and uncertain market conditions.https://t.co/Svuk9yYj6J
1/10
— Joseph Rubin (@ethereumJoseph) January 18, 2023
Speaking to Cointelegraph just days before the job cuts were officially announced, which had already been widely reported, Rex Sokorin, Chief Crypto Economy Officer at ConsenSys, said the industry is on a massive scale globally. He said he was still a long way from being adopted.
“We’re still at a place where this is an emerging technology. It’s not fully understood by the general public,” he said.
According to Consensys, during the last bull market, more than 30 million monthly users used MetaMask to access DeFi protocols, create and trade NFTs, and participate in DAOs. Although promising, it is a drop in the ocean globally.
“MetaMask has 30 million monthly users and Web3 probably has 500 million addresses,” says Sokolin. “But it’s not 5 billion people.”
Asked when cryptocurrencies will see mainstream adoption, Sokolin said it’s all about sufficiently compelling use cases for cryptocurrencies and a thriving ecosystem to support them.
He also rejected the idea that it would come as a result of a better user experience and clearer regulations.
“They are not what people say [such as] “When will the UI improve” or “When will the regulation improve”. they are important, but […] They are not catalysts,” Sokorin said, adding:
“There’s only one trigger for things. Will I have enough Web3 purchases that I want to own?”
“When I live on Web3, my avatar, my social media, my data, and my personal status, reputation, community affiliation, […] tied to me owning a digital object […] Inevitably, everyone will get to where they want to do business on Web3. “
“So for me, economic adoption is the most important thing, because it pulls the rest into the ecosystem.”
Related: Crypto Adoption in 2022: What Events Moved the Industry Forward?
In his latest post, Rubin said the company is focused on streaming its workforce and has identified core value drivers such as end-user custody solution MetaMask, developer platform Infura, and “new products” that will grow Web3 commerce and decentralized autonomous organizations. He said he would focus his business. (DAO) community.