By
Bena Ilyas
April 22nd, 2024
Valkyrie has taken the hard decision to let some of its good hands go.
Over the past few weeks, digital asset management firm Valkyrie Investments Inc. has had to relieve about 30% of its total number of employees, of their duties. That is 7 out of its 23-man staff. This was revealed in a recent Bloomberg report which claims that the move may have been necessitated by the prevalent condition of the crypto market.
Valkyrie Cites Reasons for the Decision to Lay Off Employees
Best known for providing crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Valkyrie believes that the decision to let go of its staff was unavoidable. It says the hard decision has almost become a trend across the crypto industry, with virtually all firms doing the same.
Speaking about how the decision was arrived at, Valkyrie CEO, Leah Wald said partly:
“Our management team did a thorough review of asset growth year to date and reviewed every employee’s role and contribution.”
Per her claims, the review led Valkyrie to limit its layoffs to its sales and marketing departments alone.
Wald also mentioned that, though these kinds of decisions are hard, they are necessary to ensure a strong future for the firm. In her explanation, she cited firms that took similar hard decisions in previous distress periods, and how they did well to help them prosper over the next few decades. She said:
“We feel firms that have opportunistically established themselves at this point of the current economic cycle will prosper moving forward.”
Historical Layoffs
Valkyrie’s layoffs appear to be the most recent of what’s gradually turning out to be one of the longest streaks of such that the world has ever seen. But that may be because it is also a historically difficult time for the crypto industry as a whole. Firms of various sizes have had to fold up, with many resolving to cut their workforces to stay in business.
Notable names among firms that have laid off their staff include BlockFi, Gemini Trust, Crypto.com, Coinbase Global, and Digital Currency Group (DCG).