Gemini embarks on a devastating third round of layoffs amid rift with Genesis

Gemini is embarking on its third round of layoffs in eight months. The popular cryptocurrency exchange has disclosed that it is slashing 10% of its headcount as the layoff trend in the tech ecosystem persists.

In the last couple of months, the company has been involved in a dispute with another crypto company Genesis over a product both companies produce. It has been a wobbly reaction to the ushering of a new calendar by crypto firms that have announced drastic and urgent reductions in their workforce.

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Major industry players like Coinbase Global Inc. (COIN.O) and Genesis Global Capital have respectively filed for bankruptcy protection and slashed their workforces to stay afloat. Genesis’ bankruptcy filing revealed last week that it owes $765.9 million to Gemini, its biggest creditor.

Gemini has been severely punctured by its exposure to the now-bankrupt crypto lending company, Genesis. According to data extracted from TechCrunch and PitchBook, the firm had pruned 10% of its workforce in June last year and an additional 7% a month later. Gemini’s President, via the company’s Slack channel, informed employees of the company’s new decision to embark on a third round of layoffs. He said, 

“It was our hope to avoid further reductions after this summer. However, persistent negative macroeconomic conditions and unprecedented fraud perpetuated by bad actors in our industry have left us with no other choice but to revise our outlook and further reduce headcount.

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Gemini has been incapable of releasing funds to its Earn account holders. To this effect, there has been combative interaction between Gemini’s founders, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and Digital Currency Group, the parent company of Genesis, over the $900 million owed to Earn Customers.

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Gemini is at loggerheads with Genesis 

There has been a stormy collision between Cameron Winklevoss and Barry Silbert, the founder of the Digital Currency Group. The bickering between both founders stems from the failing business relationship between Genesis and Gemini Exchange.

FTX’s sudden eclipse catapulted the market into massive doom. Since FTX’s bankruptcy, Genesis has been stuck in a liquidity problem, which led to an utter suspension of withdrawals, keeping as much as $900 million belonging to Gemini Earn customers in limbo.

In an address filed to Barry Silbert, Cameron stated that the numerous efforts to get a solution over the last six weeks had been rendered useless by Silbert and his companies. He said, 

“We appreciate that there are startup costs to any restructuring, and at times things don’t go as fast as we would all like,” Winklevoss wrote in the letter shared on Twitter. “However, it is now becoming clear that you have been engaging in bad-faith stall tactics”

Silbert is reminded by Cameron Winklevoss that the Genesis issue is not unique to itself and that he cannot continue to ignore the urgent need for a solution.

“After six weeks, your behavior is not only completely unacceptable, it is unconscionable,” Winklevoss added. “The idea in your head that you can quietly hide in your ivory tower and that this will all just magically go away, or that this is someone else’s problem, is pure fantasy.”

The rippling effects of Silbert’s engagements in stall tactics have led to Gemini’s third round of layoffs. A move that further dampens the mood of the market.