Crypto Firms Are Cutting Hundreds of Jobs — and Blaming AI

A wave of layoffs is sweeping through the crypto industry, and company executives are increasingly pointing to artificial intelligence as the reason. In the past two weeks alone, Gemini, Crypto.com, Algorand, Block, and several other firms have cut a combined total of roughly 450 jobs. The messaging from leadership has been remarkably consistent: AI can now do the work that used to require large teams.

Gemini, the exchange founded by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, cut 10% of its workforce, citing AI-driven productivity gains. Crypto.com followed with a round of layoffs affecting an undisclosed number of employees, with CEO Kris Marszalek explicitly stating that AI tools have made the company more efficient. Algorand, the blockchain network, cut 30% of its staff. Block, the payments company founded by Jack Dorsey, let go of 931 employees, citing AI as a core reason for restructuring.

The AI explanation has a certain logic to it. Large language models and AI coding assistants have genuinely made software development, customer support, and data analysis more efficient. A team that once required 50 engineers might now operate effectively with 35. But critics are not buying the narrative wholesale. They point out that crypto markets have been under sustained pressure, with Bitcoin still far below its all-time highs and trading volumes down significantly from the peak of the last bull cycle. In their view, the AI framing is a convenient cover for a more straightforward market-driven downsizing.

This is not the first time the crypto industry has gone through a painful contraction.

The 2022 bear market, triggered by the collapse of the Terra/Luna ecosystem and the subsequent FTX implosion, resulted in tens of thousands of layoffs across the industry. At the time, companies cited market conditions directly. This time, the language has shifted, but the underlying pattern is familiar.

What makes this cycle different is the genuine possibility that AI is, in fact, changing the math on headcount. If AI tools allow companies to operate leaner, then the layoffs may not reverse even when markets recover. That would represent a structural shift in the industry's employment model, not just a cyclical correction.

For workers in the space, the distinction matters enormously. A cyclical downturn means jobs come back when prices rise. A structural shift means the industry may never return to its previous headcount levels, regardless of what Bitcoin does. The honest answer is probably that both forces are at work simultaneously, and separating them is nearly impossible from the outside.

The crypto industry is not alone in this dynamic. Technology companies across the board have been using AI as a justification for workforce reductions. Whether that framing is accurate or convenient, it is becoming the dominant narrative for 2026 layoffs.

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Rowan Marrow
Seattle Newsroom / Breaking Crypto News