Circle Confirms New Round of Layoffs Following Co-CEO Departure

Circle, one of the earliest crypto adopters in the fintech space, has laid off about 10 employees. 

The move, first reported by The Block, comes barely a week after the firm’s co-CEO, Sean Neville, announced he would step down from his role at the end of 2019, though he intends to remain on Circle’s Board of Directors. 

“As we continue to focus on advancing our stablecoin business strategy, we’ve streamlined some departments and eliminated about 10 roles,” a spokesperson told CoinDesk via email.

Circle previously laid off 30 employees in May, citing regulatory concerns and market conditions. At the time, the cut represented roughly 10 percent of the company’s total workforce. The spokesperson did not immediately answer a question about the company’s current headcount.

Neville said in an email obtained by CoinDesk last week that he would continue working with CENTRE, the company’s collaborative project with crypto exchange Coinbase which issues the USDC stablecoin.

Circle’s sale of Poloniex, the crypto exchange it acquired in 2018, contributed to Neville’s decision, he said.

The company sold Poloniex to an unnamed Asian investment group in October for $400 million. The exchange firewalled U.S. users after the sale, and will now primarily focus on markets outside the U.S. 

Justin Sun, the founder of cryptocurrency platform TRON, said he is one of the investors in the investment group in a joint livestream with Poloniex on Twitter despite previously denying being involved. 

Formed in 2014, the peer-to-peer payment company was the first to receive a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services in 2015. The license allowed the company to provide crypto services within New York state.