The recent wave of layoffs in prominent blockchain analytics firm, Chainalysis, is sending ripples across the crypto markets. The company reluctantly let go of another 15% of its employees – that’s approximatively 135 staff, citing the escalating bear market blues as the reason. This move marks the second instance of significant layoffs for Chainalysis this year, which saw the company trim its workforce by about 40-50 positions earlier in February following nosediving market conditions.
While the power play doesn’t bode well for the morale within the company, Chainalysis VP of Communications Madeleine Kennedy exuded a sobering optimism. She indicated that the company is primed for long-term success but the present market conditions necessitate a move towards leaner operations to optimise expenses. The resolve to foster trust in blockchains among government agencies, financial institutions, and cryptocurrency businesses remains unshaken, Madeleine voiced further.
Nevertheless, aligning with a more discerning market picture, digital asset market capitalization took a whopping 64% plunge from its peak almost two years back. The current market locates Bitcoin BTC at a tantalising edge, perennially entangled in a tug of war to break above the $30,000 resistance. This landscape is substantially impacting the demand for commercial products like futures ETFs.
The recent launch of nine new Ethereum futures exchange-traded funds (ETFs) is witnessing only a lukewarm reception, with less than $2 million worth of trading volume on the first day. Bloomberg’s senior ETF analyst, Eric Balchunas, decried it as a “pretty meh day of volume”.
However, the crypto skeptic’s verdict does not entail an utter doomsday scenario as he also voiced that relative to regular traditional finance ETF launch, this is “quite a lot”. The case reveals a market preference leaning towards spot ETF products over futures.
Echoing the sentiments, ETF firm Volatility Shares backed off from its plans to list a similar product, citing lack of opportunity at present. However, that’s just a snapshot of the bearish market atmosphere. It’s crucial to remember that change is the only constant in the crypto realm – we’ve seen ebbs and flows before, and it’s likely that we’ll ride this wave just as we have the others.
Source: Cointelegraph
