OP Labs, the event firm behind the Ethereum layer 2 community Optimism, has let go of 20 staff as a part of an organizational restructuring geared toward narrowing its strategic priorities and streamlining decision-making processes.
“This isn’t about funds,” OP Labs CEO Jing Wang mentioned in a observe. “OP Labs is properly capitalized with years of runway. That is about doing fewer issues properly, making choices quicker, and decreasing coordination overhead.”
The corporate mentioned that it plans to assist departing staff with severance, healthcare continuation, and assist them discover new roles.
Affected employees members will obtain prolonged compensation packages and continued advantages as a part of their separation agreements.
Jing has additionally dedicated to leveraging private {and professional} networks to attach displaced staff with hiring alternatives throughout the blockchain ecosystem.
Trade-wide pressures
OP Labs joins a rising checklist of crypto corporations which have adjusted workforce ranges because the business adjusts to weaker markets and shifting methods.
Gemini minimize about 25% of its workforce and exited the UK, EU, and Australian markets whereas shutting down its NFT market and narrowing its focus to the US, AI instruments, and prediction markets.
OKX additionally decreased employees in its institutional division as a part of a world restructuring, whereas Block mentioned it could remove roughly 4,000 jobs, with CEO Jack Dorsey pointing to AI developments and altering enterprise priorities.
The crypto sector final skilled mass layoffs in the course of the 2022 market collapse, when corporations decreased headcounts by 10% to 30% following failures tied to Terraform Labs and FTX that wiped roughly $2 trillion from the market.
Roughly 24,000 jobs disappeared that yr as exchanges and mining corporations moved into disaster administration mode, in response to Bressler, Amery & Ross.
Latest layoffs from 2025 to 2026 are principally linked to operational streamlining, mergers, and shifts towards AI-driven and blockchain-focused initiatives.
Whereas 2022 cuts had been dominated by exchanges resembling Coinbase and Crypto.com, newer layoffs are unfold throughout sectors like DeFi, real-world asset platforms, and infrastructure suppliers.
