Crypto Global
By Aidan Ryan Welcome back!
Over the past few weeks, we've been covering the downturn in crypto prices and how that's affecting crypto companies. For some, it's triggered layoffs and hiring freezes.
But as my story on Tuesday this week shows, there's also an effect on the broader ecosystem of firms that have helped facilitate the massive growth in the industry. For that story, which focused on Coinbase's aggressive hiring push prior to announcing an indefinite hiring freeze, I spoke to crypto recruiters about how their business is holding up.
Most recruiters I spoke to said they haven't seen a significant scaling back of clients in demand for their services, but said that they expect some sort of shift soon.
"Hiring has certainly slowed down a bit, but we certainly haven't seen hiring stop in most of the companies we've been working with," said Rob Paone, founder and CEO of crypto recruiting firm Proof of Talent.
But while firms are still hiring, there's evidence the number of roles they're trying to recruit for is shrinking.
Emily Landon, founder and CEO of The Crypto Recruiters, said she typically has 50 to 100 job postings on her site, but that number is now down to about 20. Landon also said that payment has been an issue lately, as her firm accepts payment in both fiat currency and crypto. As the value of crypto has fallen, it's become more difficult for her clients to pay her.
"We're getting into a challenge of payment, which has been really tough for my business," she said.
And there may be more to come after this first wave of cuts, which have included crypto and stock brokerage Robinhood and crypto exchange Gemini. Mike Adler, a managing partner at recruiting firm AC Lion, which works with crypto companies, thinks that crypto exchanges will be particularly vulnerable during this downturn, since many rely on trading volume for revenue.
Meanwhile there are hundreds of people who were about to start crypto jobs who are now left in the lurch. When it announced its hiring freeze, Coinbase also rescinded many accepted offers. At least a handful of foreign workers affected by Coinbase's abrupt U-turn have taken to social media sites like LinkedIn to ask for help in finding a new job, in part because of a need for an employer to sponsor work visas to remain in the United States.
Some 320 people who had their offers pulled have added their names to a "Coinbase Talent Hub" website created by Coinbase. 73% of the people on the list indicated that they worked in engineering, and 32% indicated they were international workers.
Consensus, the annual crypto conference put on by the crypto-focused news outlet CoinDesk, is shaping up to be the hottest event of the year—weather-wise. Some 15,000 people (including me!) will be descending on Austin in the middle of a heat wave: the temperature as of publication time is forecasted to be over 100 degrees every day of the conference.
But whether the energy of the conference's attendees will be as sizzling as the weather outside remains to be seen.
Crypto prices have been tanking, wiping out nearly $1 trillion in market capitalization over the past six months. That's led to a plunge in trading activity and souring sentiment among investors.
Founders, investors and other crypto enthusiasts should expect plenty of discussion about what's next. Among the events scheduled include "Digital Asset Investment Outlooks in a Turbulent Market," "Looking Beyond the Terra Rubble: What's Next for Crypto?" and "Lessons Learned While Riding Crypto's Rollercoaster," which will feature Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz, who has a tattoo of the now-collapsed luna token.
I expect many founders and executives will hail the current downturn as a good time to hunker down and focus on their products to emerge as winners when crypto prices pick up again. But not all might make it through—when there are winners, there are also losers.
I'll be in Austin starting Thursday and eager to meet people from across the industry—this is Crypto Global, after all. Feel free to reach out ahead of time with your questions, ideas, food recs and tips for this New Hampshire-native on how to stay cool this weekend.
"To maintain America as the financial capital of the world, the federal government needs to encourage innovation in the digital assets markets and protect consumers through thoughtful regulation," U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wy.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) wrote in a joint statement on Tuesday, announcing their bill to regulate cryptocurrencies.
One of the main takeaways from the bill is that it would charge the CFTC with regulatory oversight of digital assets, with the senators arguing that digital assets are much more similar to commodities than securities. That should relieve crypto leaders, who have long argued that tokens should not be treated as securities, which would bring significantly more regulation under the purview of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Gary Gensler, the SEC chair, has been outspoken in his belief that most tokens are securities.
Other highlights: the bill would also require the Government Accountability Office to study retirement investing in crypto, exempt purchases of goods and services with crypto for less than $200 from taxes and mandate a study on digital asset energy consumption.
While everyone is rushing to announce their take on the proposed bill (many leaders in the crypto industry have praised the bill while opponents of crypto are against it), it's important to remember that this initial draft is likely far from whatever a final law would say, if it makes it that far.
See The Information's Crypto Power List for an exclusive list of the top executives, investors, and rising stars in the crypto industry.
- BlockFi, a crypto lending company, is raising a down round at a $1 billion valuation, according to a report from The Block. The startup had previously been valued at $4.75 billion, The Information first reported.
- Delphia, an algorithmic investment startup, raised a $60 million Series A round led by Multicoin Capital. Other investors included Ribbit Capital, FTX Ventures and Valor Equity Partners.
- Haun Ventures led a $32 million funding round for Euler, the startup behind a lending and borrowing protocol on Ethereum. Other investors included Coinbase Ventures, FTX Ventures and Jump Crypto.
- Calaxy, a Web3 social marketplace for creators, raised a $26 million funding round led by the HBAR Foundation and Animoca Brands, with additional participation from Polygon Studios.
- Crypto tax and accounting platform Ledgible raised a $20 million Series A round led by EJF Capital. Other investors included JAM FINTOP, Thomson Reuters Ventures and TTV Capital.
- Skolem Technologies, a startup that gives institutions access to decentralized finance apps, raised a $20 million Series A round led by Galaxy Digital. Other investors included Point72, Jump Crypto and CMT Digital.
- Canonical Crypto, a new crypto-focused venture firm founded by investor Anand Iyer, raised a $20 million fund. Limited partners include Andreessen Horowitz's Marc Andreessen and Chris Dixon, Coinbase Head of Corporate Development and Coinbase Ventures Shan Aggarwal and FTX Ventures Head Amy Wu.
- Donald Verrilli Jr., a former U.S. Solicitor General in the Obama administration, has joined crypto asset manager Grayscale on its legal team as it awaits an SEC decision to convert its bitcoin trust into an exchange traded fund.
- Binance Labs head Bill Qian announced he is leaving the crypto exchange's venture arm. Nicole Zhang, who previously served as Binance Labs' executive director, left the venture arm last month.
- Katie Biber, who previously served as chief legal officer at Brex and is a former general counsel for Mitt Romney's presidential campaign, announced she is joining crypto venture firm Paradigm as its top lawyer.
- Jay Drain Jr., a former investor at Maven Ventures, has joined Andreessen Horowitz as a partner on its crypto investing team.
- How crypto giant Binance became a hub for hackers, fraudsters and drug traffickers (Reuters)
- Thefts, Fraud and Lawsuits at the World's Biggest NFT Marketplace (The New York Times)
- Crypto's winter is here again. How long will it last? (Vox)
Thank you for reading the Crypto Global newsletter. I'd love your feedback, ideas and tips: aidan@theinformation.com.
We unpack the fast-changing world of cryptocurrency and blockchain and delve into how digital money is reshaping tech and finance from Silicon Valley to Wall Street to Asia.
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Aidan Ryan is a reporter for The Information, covering crypto. He is based in New York and can be found on Twitter @aidanfitzryan.
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