OP Labs, the development company behind the Ethereum layer 2 network Optimiz, has let go of 20 employees as part of a restructuring aimed at narrowing its strategic priorities and streamlining its decision-making processes.
“It’s not about finances,” OP Labs CEO Jing Wang said in a note. “OP Labs has been well-invested for many years. It’s about doing less, making decisions faster, and reducing coordination costs.”
The company said it plans to support laid-off workers with severance, continued health care and help them find new roles.
Affected employees will receive severance packages and continued benefits as part of their severance agreements.
Jing is also committed to using personal and professional networks to connect migrant workers with hiring opportunities in the blockchain ecosystem.
Pressures across the industry
OP Labs joins a growing list of crypto companies that have adjusted workforce levels as the industry adjusts to weaker markets and changing strategies.
Gemini cut around 25% of its workforce and exited the UK, EU and Australian markets while closing the NFT market and narrowing its focus to the US, AI tools and prediction markets.
OKX also cut staff in its institutional division as part of a global restructuring, while Block said it would cut about 4,000 jobs, with CEO Jack Dorsey pointing to advances in AI and changing business priorities.
The last time the cryptocurrency sector experienced mass layoffs was during the 2022 market crash, when companies cut between 10% and 30% of staff following the failures of Terraform Labs and FTX, which lost nearly $2 trillion in market capitalization.
According to Bressler, Amery and Ross, about 24,000 jobs were lost that year as stock exchanges and mining companies went into crisis management mode.
Recent layoffs from 2025 to 2026 are largely related to operational adjustments, mergers, and a shift to AI and blockchain-focused initiatives.
While 2022 cuts were dominated by exchanges like Coinbase and Crypto.com, more recent cuts are spreading across sectors like DeFi, real asset platforms, and infrastructure providers.
