Bloomberg Línea — Brazil’s crypto holding 2TM, owner of exchange startup Mercado Bitcoin, is the latest unicorn that is laying off staff amid a tech-selloff affecting high growth companies worldwide. 2TM said it laid off 90 people, 12% of its team, due to “the change in the global financial scenario, high interest rates and inflation, that has had a great impact on technology-based companies”. Mercado Bitcoin says it is affected by 2TM’s layoffs policy.
The company said this new reality requires that 2TM also seek a new growth and investment equation. “The scenario required adjustments that go beyond the reduction of operating expenses, making it also necessary to dismiss some of our employees. The process we carried out was guided by transparency and respect, in order to honor the legacy of each employee who helped us get here,” it said, in a press statement.
2TM said that people that were laid off offered a package of benefits to support them personally and professionally, ranging from help with relocation to the market, to maintenance of health insurance for a specified period. Mercado Bitcoin said it “remains steadfast in its purpose of building the market-leading blockchain-based infrastructure.”
Crypto Crash?
Last week, Argentina’s crypto company Buenbit laid off 50% of its staff, and Bitso terminated at least 80 people in technical and commercial areas in Mexico. In an interview with Bloomberg Línea, Federico Ogue, CEO at Buenbit, said that the layoffs weren’t related to Terra coin collapse, but it has been a decision the company has been working for months due to the “new global context”.
This new business cycle of layoffs has affected the unicorns VTEX, Olist, Facily, Loft, QuintoAndar, and Creditas in Brazil, besides Bitso in Mexico, and can create even more victims, as venture capital funds are urging startups to cut costs.
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