Matrixport cuts workforce by 10%

Crypto financial services company Matrixport, co-founded by Jihan Wu, has joined the list of companies carrying out job cuts, while its asset management firm lost two top executives. 

Matrixport reduces marketing department 

Bloomberg reported on Jan. 27, Matrixport’s chief operating officer Cynthia Wu said that the reduction in the workforce only affected employees in the marketing department. According to the Matrixport executive, the company will increase hiring efforts in compliance, legal, and product development.

“We’ve sharpened our strategic focus towards accredited investors given the significant shift in the regulatory climate following the industry wide capitulations.”

Cynthia Wu, chief operating officer, Matrixport.

Matrixport, which records a trading volume of $5 billion monthly, sought $100 million in a new funding round in Nov. 2022 amid the crisis that plagued the industry at the time. The fresh injection of funds would catapult the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion from $1 billion. 

Apart from laying off some workers, Matrix Asset Management reportedly saw the departure of two of its top executives – CEO Damien Loh and head of business development and investor relations I Z Wong – as revealed by anonymous sources. 

While there was no reason for the executives’ exit, Yu Yee Woon, Matrix Asset Management’s chief operating officer, said that the company “is transitioning to new leadership, pending regulatory review.”

Matrixport, which records a trading volume of $5 billion monthly and has $10 billion in assets under management (AUM) and custody, sought $100 million in a new funding round in Nov. 2022 amid the crisis that plagued the industry at the time.

The fresh injection of funds would catapult the company’s valuation to $1.5 billion from $1 billion. 

More crypto layoffs

Matrixport’s co-founder Jihan Wu was formerly the CEO of Bitmain, one of the largest bitcoin mining chip manufacturers.

However, a leadership tussle between Wu and co-founder Micree Zhan rocked the firm starting in 2019. The saga which saw legal threats, was resolved later in 2021 after Wu resigned from his position as CEO. Amid the crisis in 2019, Wu launched Matrixport. 

Meanwhile, the job cuts at Matrixport are the latest in the industry.

While the company claims not to be affected by FTX’s downfall last November, Matrixport said 80 customers suffered losses following exposure to products linked to FTX on the platform.

Other companies which have also reduced employee count include Coinbase, Crypto.com, ConsenSys, Gemini, Wyre, and Genesis.