By
Temitope Olatunji
April 18th, 2024
The decision to shut down offices comes as ConsenSys plans to streamline its operations and refocus on other priorities like the ConsenSys 2.0 technological development.
As per the latest development, Ethereum‘s blockchain development company ConsenSys said that it had decided to close its operations in India and the Philippines. As per the people familiar with the matter, Joseph Lubin has informed his team via an email on Wednesday, December 11.
Speaking on this matter, ConsenSys spokesperson Kara Miley said:
“A total of 11 roles were eliminated in India and the Philippines due to a realignment of the sales and services team in those countries”.
ConsenSys India was working on some of the most ambitious decentralized projects like land titling, healthcare, and also some educational programs for boosting Ethereum coding in the region.
The decision comes just within a year after ConsenSys confirmed that it is planning to cut-down 13% of its staff. The company said that it is currently “re-focusing on priorities”. Speaking to CoinDesk last week, a ConsenSys official said:
“Excited as we are about ConsenSys 2.0, our first step in this direction has been a difficult one: we are streamlining several parts of the business including ConsenSys Solutions, spokes, and hub services, leading to a 13% reduction of mesh members.”
During the crypto bull run of 2017, ConsenSys saw solid growth by expanding its operations in different business verticals. However, like every other crypto company in the market, ConsenSys had to face the heat of the market during the crypto winter of 2018.
Focusing on ConsenSys 2.0, Investing in New Avenues
ConsenSys is looking ahead with a channelized approach to deal with further challenges and opportunities in the market. Lubin said that his company is planning to pivot its staff towards working on ConsenSys 2.0. He stated:
“Projects will continue to be evaluated with rigor, as the cornerstone of ConsenSys 2.0 is technical excellence, coupled with innovative blockchain business models”.
However, despite all the headwinds, ConsenSys continues to invest in future projects and startups. Last month, the company’s head of experiential marketing Yadira Blocker told CoinDesk that it has decided to pump around $175,000 in different startups working on similar goals. The funds will be invested through the ConsenSys Grants scheme which has poured around $330,000 in 15 startups since February 2019. In a statement to CoinDesk, Blocker said:
“In Wave 1, we saw a lot of applications but they weren’t super strong. In Wave 2, we started to see more credible teams and more unique ideas come to the table.”
Speaking on the funding, Daniela Osorio, marketing director at ConsenSys said that it is important to fund under-resourced projects which are integral to the development of the Ethereum ecosystem. Osorio added:
“The way we find really great projects is we talk to VCs and we ask, ‘What are some great teams you’ve come across that you can’t actually justify funding?. It comes down to this theory of the ‘tragedy of the commons.’ We all need certain pieces to work for everyone else to build something potentially more profitable on top.”
Recently, Ethereum co-founder and ConsenSys chief Joseph Lubin also spoke about his views on Facebook‘s Libra cryptocurrency. He stated that although Libra as a project is good, it should not be run by Facebook. According to Lubin, Facebook has lost the trust of people due to its inability to handle users’ private data.