Winklevoss Twins' Gemini Cutting 10% of Its Staff, Saying 'Crypto Winter' Is Here

Billionaire bitcoiners Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are laying off 10% of the workforce at Gemini, a first for the U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange and custodian. CNBC reports: The twins announced in a blog post on Thursday morning that the industry is in a "contraction phase" known as "crypto winter," which has been "further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil." "We are not alone," the memo continued. Fellow crypto exchange Coinbase recently reported that revenue had fallen 27% from a year ago, as had overall usage.

Gemini -- which has been around since 2014 and is valued at $7.1 billion as of its last funding round -- has 1,033 people on its payroll, according to PitchBook, which translates to about 100 employees affected by today's layoffs. CNBC reached out to Gemini to ask for the exact figure, but the press team declined to comment beyond the blog post. As for next steps, Gemini has closed its physical offices today in order to protect employee privacy. Impacted team members will receive a calendar invite for individual conversations about separation packages and health care benefits. On Friday, remaining employees will take part in a "company-wide standup" to talk about its future.

The memo says that Gemini wants to focus only on products that are critical to its mission -- and team leaders will assess whether their teams are "right-sized" for the "current, turbulent market conditions that are likely to persist for some time." "Today is a tough day, but one that will make Gemini better over the long run," the brothers wrote in the staffwide memo.

Re:

[fahrbot-bot]

What a coupla douchebags.

Another bullshit company that does nothing of value, on its way out.

Like their previous company, "Face..." something . :-)

Re:

[newbie_fantod]

Or how about another bullshit economy that does nothing of value, on its way out.

Re:

[iMadeGhostzilla]

First hit, a Nov 2021 article on fool.com (appropriate name) says "Gemini crypto platform announced it closed an equity funding round worth $400 million that pegs the company's total market capitalization at $7.1 billion."

So possibly they hired all those people to milk investors less "savvy" then themselves.

Didn't read the article beyond it, but I search the page for the word "profit" and the browser says 0 matches.

Closed offices to "protect privacy"

[br1984]

"As for next steps, Gemini has closed its physical offices today in order to protect employee privacy." Closed to protect employees from idiot losers (loser idiots?) who will attack them when their crypto "holdings" (ie make-believe Monopoly toy currencies) go to z ee e ro.

Re:Closed offices to "protect privacy"

[lactose99]

That's not all, they're being sued for misrepresenting futures' contracts.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/... [theverge.com]

So are they real billionaires?

[93 Escort Wagon]

Or do they hold "billions" in cryptocurrency?

I know they were involved with FriendFace, but they were always in the news complaining how they got shafted by ZuckerFace.

Re:

[Powercntrl]

They shouldn't have gotten a dime. Not that I think highly of Zuck, but ideas by themselves are worthless - it's being able to capitalize on an idea that has value. There wasn't anything novel about Facebook anyway, it was just a less ugly (by virtue of not letting users customize anything) version of MySpace.

Re:

[thegarbz]

Or do they hold "billions" in cryptocurrency?

Why not both? [knowyourmeme.com]

The rich rarely invest in a single asset.

So cold

[phantomfive]

Couldn't have happened to nicer people.

A bit more discreet

[Catvid-22]

Getting laid off at times like these is bad. But at least the Winklevoss'es are handling the termination notices a bit better than a certain company [wikipedia.org] that did something quite unworthy of its name.

Re:

[Powercntrl]

I would say anyone who works for a company with "cryptocurrency" anywhere in their mission statement, should have an up-to-date resume and some money in savings.

just a phase

[algaeman]

Now is the winter of our discontent Made glorious summer by this sun of blockchain; And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house In the deep bosom of the internet buried. Let the slaughter begin.

Re: just a phase

[paravis]

Hahahaha oh man, +5 for the artistic response!!

The plural of Winkelvoss...

[Kargan]

...is Winkelvi

Not enough fools to be found anymore?

[gweihir]

Good.

Re:Not enough fools to be found anymore?

[Powercntrl]

Those twins have more pyramid schemes than a Goa'uld.

Re: Not enough fools to be found anymore?

[memory_register]

Hot damn I wish I had mod points today. This is the best comment, maybe ever

Re:

[shanen]

Those twins have more pyramid schemes than a Goa'uld.

Are they like the Ferengi? But I don't know much about the Ferengi, either.

further compounded by the current turmoil

[The Evil Atheist]

further compounded by the current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil

What?

But cryptocurrencies are supposed to me magically immune to all that because it's made from maths and unicorn farts!

Isn't that righ, reanjr?

Re:

[jythie]

Yeah, shouldn't the makers of the world all be flocking to crypto to escape the decaying world that has not earned their presence? Crypto should be booming!

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[crobarcro]

Yes, isn't crypto the ultimate uncorrelated hedge? Or is it more of an open Ponzi scheme?

This is just him getting ready for the recession

[rsilvergun]

that the fed is actively trying to cause. The Federal reserve has openly admitted they're trying to cause layoffs in order to lower wages because they think (wrongly) that doing so will get inflation under control.

It's a symptom of our failing political and economic system, where the only way we can solve problems is with "Austerity", e.g. screwing over people who work for a living.

The actual solution is to take back the $3.5 trillion given out to the top 1% during the pandemic (and then some) and u

Re:

[linuxguy]

Fed is trying to cause a recession. You got that part right. But they don't have much of an option. COVID required a lot of money printing. That is mostly responsible for the current strong inflation. And inflation cannot be tamed unless economy cools down a bit, by raising interest rates. Fed is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

All the armchair economists think they have the answers.

Re:

[Tom]

It's a symptom of our failing political and economic system, where the only way we can solve problems is with "Austerity", e.g. screwing over people who work for a living.

I've been watching this for two decades now and it's not even funny anymore. When the same alledged "cure" is brought for not just different, but opposite problems, you can be fairly sure there's a snake-oil seller in the room.

Inflation too high? We need more Austerity.
Inflation too low? More Austerity.
Too many unemployed? Austerity!
Not enough jobs? Austerity!

The longer you live, the more you wonder if it's always been like this and you were just too naive to see it, or if it's fairly recent that the whole

Re:

[gtall]

The deficit rose under Reagan in part because he (and Congress) cut taxes and then refused to cut spending. The Republicans then learned the dumb lesson, whine incessantly about taxes but keep the federal spending. Regulation is overhyped by Republicans as somehow shackling the economy. Nothing says shackle like increasing greenhouse gases and other pollutants.

A 1033 people?

[linuxguy]

The old Ponzi schemes have nothing on the new Ponzi schemes. What do these 1033 people do? What problem are they trying to solve?

Re:

[awwshit]

>What do these 1033 people do? What problem are they trying to solve?

Those 1033 people shill crypto obviously. To make more money for the douche twins obviously.

Re:

[real_nickname]

They are running an exchange. Like most of us these 1033 people try to solve the problem of the Maslow's Hierarchy.

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[gosso920]

They solve the problem of removing cocaine from hookers' asses in the most efficient manner.

Good riddance

[paravis]

Those two people have done nothing to benefit anyone. Bye.

Springtime for Fiat

[space_spaghetti]

"macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil" is exactly one of the reasons these brainiacs pumped 'decentralized' currency - to supposedly have stable wealth when the world goes to shit. But guess what - when the world goes to shit the best money and economy is backed by actual bullets, not a fucking blockchain, lol.

Matching outfits for them too

[OneHundredAndTen]

For when they go to the big house.

The market for pseudorandom numbers are down

[Mazzachre]

Aside from certain types of criminals (tax evasion, ransomware attacks, and large scale drug money laundering), is there even a market for crypto? - I'm kind of curious, because aside from Pyramid schemes (which are apparently legal in the crypto world, pending any legislation) I have not seen any usage marketed.