NFT Marketplace SuperRare Announces Mass Layoff

SuperRare, the non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace has decided to lay off 30% of the workforce, CEO John Crain announced.

Crain in the screenshot on Twitter said he is taking full ownership and they over-hired. The 9 million USD Series A fundraising for SuperRare was led by Velvet Sea Ventures and 1confirmation in March 2021.

Crain said, “to correct course, we have made the difficult decision to rightsize our team, ensuring that SuperRare Labs will be able to continue serving our community of artists, collectors and curators while remaining the destination for the best cryptoart in the world.”

NFT marketplace was funded by renowned personalities

The CEO claimed that Web3, NFTs, cryptoart, decentralized finance, and governance are still in need of significant innovation and reform.

“We are facing headwinds, yes – but there remains an incredible uncaptured opportunity as we continue building something totally new: a global digital art renaissance that is transparent, fair and that anyone can access from anywhere in the world,” he added.

“When the global economy is uncertain, our mission to build the foundation for new, peer-to-peer economies feels more urgent and important than ever. Winter is our time to build,” he noted.

Celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Marc Benioff, and Mark Cuban contributed to the NFT startup. Devin Finzer, co-founder and CEO of OpenSea, a top NFT marketplace, said earlier last year that around 20% of the company’s workforce would be let go.

Mass Layoffs Continue Amid Crypto Winter

Huobi’s Justin Sun confirmed the news of Huobi slashing down its workforce by 20%. According to a report, earlier the firm was forcing its employees to accept payment in USDC/USDT instead of fiat currency.

The turmoil from FTX has hit the crypto-focused bank Silvegate. In the preliminary report published by then for the last quarter of 2022. It indicated a huge withdrawal of cryptos worth 8 billion USD. Following this, the firm has decided to lay off its 200 employees, which accounts for 40% of the workforce.

According to reports, Genesis Global is cutting off its workforce by another 30% as the firm faces heat for lending millions to the crypto empire of Sam Bankman-Fried.