Top 15 Cities by Cryptocurrency Layoffs

Amid the ongoing cryptocurrency winter and tough macroeconomic environment, the cryptocurrency industry has been experiencing a flurry of layoffs. Around the world, cryptocurrency companies have announced the need to reduce headcount due to various challenges.

In this research study, we examined the number of employees laid off across cryptocurrency companies in 2022 to date, grouped by the location the company is based in. 

Cryptocurrency companies in San Francisco, Dubai and New York have been hardest hit by layoffs in 2022, to date

Almost half of all cryptocurrency layoffs were accounted for by the top 3 cities of San Francisco, Dubai and New York, with companies based there making up a combined 49.8% of employees laid off.

San Francisco led with the highest number of 1,142 employees laid off from cryptocurrency companies based in the city year to date (YTD), making up 25.7% of global cryptocurrency layoffs. This might be attributed to the density of cryptocurrency companies based in San Francisco, which has traditionally been a hub for high technology alongside Silicon Valley.

Dubai came in at second place for cryptocurrency layoffs, with slightly over half of San Francisco’s numbers. 609 employees were laid off from Dubai-based cryptocurrency companies YTD, representing 13.7% of cryptocurrency layoffs worldwide.

New York followed closely behind Dubai, with the third highest number at 463 employees laid off from cryptocurrency companies based in New York YTD, representing 10.4% of cryptocurrency layoffs globally.

Out of the Top 15 cities, 5 are in the United States, and 2 are in Australia

One third of the top 15 cities by cryptocurrency layoffs were in the United States (US), namely San Francisco, New York, Jersey City, Hoboken and Las Vegas. In total, layoffs from cryptocurrency companies based in the US numbered 2,080, which accounted for 46.7% of the industry’s layoffs globally YTD. 

Australia took up two spots among the top 15 cities by cryptocurrency layoffs, with Brisbane and Melbourne in the 14th and 15th positions respectively. The combined number of employees laid off from cryptocurrency companies based in Brisbane and Melbourne was 144 YTD.

93% of all cryptocurrency layoffs are from companies based in these Top 15 cities, YTD

While cryptocurrency layoffs only made up 4% of technology startup layoffs, the majority (92.8%) were from companies that are based in the Top 15 cities ranked in this study. Besides the US and Australia cities, the other cities are in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Singapore, Austria, Brazil, the United Kingdom (UK), Seychelles, Mexico and Argentina.

On the Asian continent, besides the UAE which was represented by its largest city Dubai, the city-state of Singapore ranked 4th. The number of employees laid off from Singapore-based cryptocurrency companies was at 368, representing 8.3% of industry layoffs worldwide YTD.

The capital cities of Austria, the UK, Mexico and Argentina were also among the top 15 cities by cryptocurrency layoffs. Vienna ranked 5th, followed by London at 8th, Mexico City at 11th and Buenos Aires at 12th. Brazil’s most populous city, São Paulo, came in at 7th, while Seychelles’ Mahe ranked 10th.

While it is not surprising that US cities took up the most spots among the top 15 cities by cryptocurrency layoffs, it is noteworthy that there was a diversity of cities represented. The diversity suggests rapid development and growth of the cryptocurrency industry beyond the West during the bull market of 2020 and 2021. As the economy slows, discretionary spending is cut, and companies wind up adjusting their head-counts.

Methodology

The study examined cryptocurrency layoffs that were publicly reported, between January 1, 2022 to November 1, 2022. Data from layoffs.fyi was taken as a starting point, based on what had been tracked by the website as of October 27, 2022. The data set was updated with new reports of layoffs and existing publicly available information, and treated for better consistency across data points.

The number of employees laid off were grouped by city, according to the location that companies officially declared on their website, LinkedIn profile, or public announcements on where they were headquartered or based in.

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Curious to learn more about our previous studies? Check out this research piece examining the Top 15 Countries Most Curious about Cryptocurrency, that reveals Nigeria as the country most interested in crypto since the market crash in April 2022.