Anchorage Digital officials have made an official announcement about proceeding with job cuts. The San Francisco-based cryptocurrency bank has recently confirmed they are planning to cut off a huge percentage of its workforce.
20% Workforce to be Cut Off
According to the officials at Anchorage Digital, they have decided that they will be laying off almost 20% of their total employees. In terms of numbers, it is 75 out of the total employees the company is cutting off.
As per the officials, it is due to the crypto market uncertainty and downturn they have been forced to make this decision.
In the past few months, a great level of uncertainty has spread throughout the cryptocurrency industry. This time, it is not the crypto firms but the regulatory authorities from the United States raising such uncertainties.
As per Anchorage Digital officials, the crypto market is currently plagued and it is constantly facing a downturn. The major blows to the crypto market have been dealt by the US regulators.
In the past, the regulators such as the US SEC always went after the crypto firms or their projects. It seems that their approach and strategy have changed in recent months.
Instead of going after the crypto firms directly, they have started going against the conventional financial institutions instead. These institutions in particular are the ones supporting the crypto firms.
These firms have been playing a key role in the expansion of cryptocurrencies on the mainstream levels.
In the past week, the US regulators have taken down a couple of banking firms in the US that were friendly towards the crypto industry.
The first bank that the regulators took out was the Silicon Valley Bank and then came the turn for the Signature Bank.
With these firms going down, several major crypto companies and projects were impacted. Some of the prominent mentions include Coinbase (a crypto exchange), Circle (USDC’s issuer), and Ukcoin (a crypto exchange).
Statement by Anchorage Digital
In the statement issued by Anchorage Digital executives, their company is currently facing and is citing multiple factors. These factors are responsible for dragging down the performance of the company.
Above all, it is the crypto market that has become very uncertain and volatile due to the recent developments involving the banking systems.
To make things worse, the US currently does not have a clear or well-streamlined regulatory landscape. This is a major reason why there is too much uncertainty in the market and they are concerned about it.
They expect that the macroeconomic challenges are going to get harsher for the entire crypto market in near future. Therefore, they have to make the decisions that ensure the survival of their business.
Even Anchorage Digital has Faced Problems
Anchorage Digital has always claimed to be one of the most regulated and highly compliant banking solutions. It claims to be chartered by the Feds and has continued offering services to many clients.
Despite its regulated status, Anchorage Digital has found itself facing many problems and issues posed due to US regulators.
It was back in April 2022, when one of the US regulators had alleged Anchorage Digital of not being fully compliant with the operational requirements.
The regulator complained that the internal processes and the staff available at Anchorage Digital are not enough to ensure full compliance.
The regulator raises the concern of the firm not having enough staff to handle and control the KYC and AML compliances at their firm.
The firm also ran into trouble having partnered with several firms from the crypto industry. It was pointed out that Anchorage Digital is partners with Wintermute, Strix Leviathan, Blockchain.com, and CoinList.
This indicates that the regulators may be eyeing Anchorage Digital as their next target for the takedown.
