Crypto Adoption Is Growing. So Why Are Crypto Companies Laying Off Workers?

The crypto industry is facing a strange situation in 2026 where more businesses and people are using crypto, but crypto companies are also laying off more workers.

At least 60 crypto, Web3, and blockchain companies have announced layoffs this year, according to data from CryptoJobsList. That is already higher than the previous record of 38 companies in 2023, even though 2026 is not yet over when the data was collected.

So why are companies cutting jobs if crypto is growing?

The answer is not simply that the crypto market is struggling. Companies are also restructuring, cutting costs, using artificial intelligence (AI), and changing their business plans. Some companies are even laying off workers while hiring for other jobs.

This suggests that the crypto industry is not necessarily shrinking. Instead, companies are changing how they work and what types of employees they need.

2026 Has Set a New Layoff Record

The number of crypto companies announcing layoffs in 2026 is higher than in any previous full year in the CryptoJobsList data.

• 2018: 8 companies
• 2019: 6 companies
• 2020: 2 companies
• 2021: 1 company
• 2022: 29 companies
• 2023: 38 companies
• 2024: 23 companies
• 2025: 18 companies
• 2026: 60 companies so far

The 2026 number is about 36% higher than the previous record set in 2023. The layoffs have also happened throughout the year rather than being caused by one major event. 

Companies including Pump.fun, Gnosis, Luno, Uphold, BitMart, BitMEX, Exodus, Polygon Labs, FalconX, and AscendEX announced cuts in July alone.

The Number of Jobs Lost Needs Some Context

More than 7,411 job losses have been publicly reported in 2026. However, this number is heavily affected by one large company: Block, the payments company founded by Jack Dorsey.

In February, Block announced cutting more than 40% of its workforce, reducing staff from more than 10,000 to fewer than 6,000. Those cuts represent about 55% of all the publicly reported crypto job losses in the 2026 dataset.

If you remove Block’s layoffs, the total falls to about 3,411 jobs. That is lower than the 3,810 reported job cuts in 2022.

There is another limitation: Some companies announce the percentage of workers they are cutting without saying exactly how many people are affected.

So the data gives us a better idea of how many companies are laying off workers than the exact number of people losing their jobs.

What we can say with confidence is that 2026 has already broken the record for the number of crypto companies reporting layoffs, which could mean that more crypto workers have lost their jobs than in every previous downturn.

AI Is Changing the Crypto Workforce

AI is another important part of the story. Notably, 54 layoff announcements from 2026 were classified by their reported reasons.

• 27 were linked to market conditions
• 22 were linked to restructuring
• 9 were linked to AI
• The remaining cases involved other reasons, regulation, or acquisitions

Essentially, market conditions are still the biggest reason, but companies are also changing how they operate.

Coinbase is one example. In May, CEO Brian Armstrong announced plans to cut about 14% of the company’s workforce. He mentioned weak market conditions and AI’s ability to help employees do more work.

This illustrates how companies are thinking differently about hiring. They are not only asking, “How much work do we have?” They are also asking, “How much of this work can technology handle?”

But AI is not the only reason for layoffs.

In June, the Ethereum Foundation announced that it was letting go of 54 employees, about 20% of its workforce. The organization said the move was part of a restructuring designed to focus its resources on its most important work.

In other words, some companies are cutting jobs because they are changing their priorities, not simply because crypto prices are falling.

Crypto Companies Are Still Hiring

One of the most interesting parts of the situation is that companies are laying off workers while also hiring. JobStash, a crypto jobs tracker, reported 7,500 open positions from 790 employers in August.

However, not all types of jobs are in demand equally. Trading and engineering jobs were doing better, while some other roles were declining:

• Smart contract jobs were down more than 52%
• Community jobs were down 40%
• Growth jobs were down more than 34%

This means a company can lay off some employees while still hiring others. For example, a company might reduce its marketing team while hiring more engineers to build new products. 

Another company might use AI to reduce the number of people needed for certain tasks while hiring workers with specialized technical skills.

So the industry may be changing its workforce rather than simply getting smaller.

What Does This Mean for Crypto?

The 2026 layoffs show that the crypto industry is going through another major change. During the 2022 downturn, layoffs were closely connected to falling crypto prices, failed companies, and declining confidence in the industry.

In 2026, market conditions remain a factor; other elements are also playing a big role. Companies are restructuring, cutting costs, shifting priorities, and adopting AI.

This could make the job market more difficult for some workers. Even if crypto prices recover, some jobs may not return if companies have changed how they operate or found ways to use technology instead.

At the same time, companies are still hiring for certain skills in areas such as engineering and trading. The data also has limitations. CryptoJobsList depends on public announcements, news reports, and community submissions, so some layoffs may not be reported. 

Still, the fact remains that more crypto companies have announced layoffs in the first part of 2026 than in any full year since 2018.

The crypto industry may therefore be entering a new phase where growth does not always mean more employees, as companies focus more on using AI and hiring people with specific skills.