Gemini Lays Off 10% Of Its ‘Astronauts’ In A ‘Crypto Winter’ Reckoning

The “crypto winter” is coming. The meteoric rise of cryptocurrencies and fervent hyping and buying of digital assets are falling back to earth. Gemini, the large crypto platform, is feeling the change in the temperature of the markets and economy. In response to “turbulent market conditions that are likely to persist for some time,” Gemini is downsizing 10% of its astronauts—a term it coined for its employees.

In a company blog post, the twin billionaire founders of Gemini, Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, wrote, "The crypto revolution is well underway and its impact will continue to be profound. But its trajectory has been anything but gradual or predictable."

The brothers described the volatile nature of digital assets, saying investors need to be mentally and emotionally prepared for “periods of equilibrium or stasis that are punctuated by dramatic moments of hypergrowth, followed by sharp contractions that settle down to a new equilibrium that is higher than the one before." The ominous warning is similar to JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s recent stern advice to investors, alerting them to be aware of the forthcoming economic “hurricane.”

The End Of The Party?

The last couple of years was a frenetic boomtime for the stock market and cryptocurrencies. There was an unrealistic vision that securities and tokens would only go up. Many first-time investors who made YOLO trades in meme stocks and all sorts of coins are seeing a new reality.

Novice investors were unaware that money flowed freely due to interest rates held artificially low, and both the Federal Reserve Bank and White House pumped trillions of dollars into the economy to stave off the impact of the virus outbreak. Awash with cheap and plentiful dollars, the prices of real estate, stocks and digital assets greatly benefited. Now that the Fed and Biden administration is halting stimulus programs and enacting policies calling for fiscal restraints, the economy and securities markets are feeling the pain.

Sorry, But We Need To Let You Go

The brothers told their fellow astronauts, “We are writing to update you on a difficult decision that will impact a number of you and the overall size of our team,” and thanked them for their service. They said in the memo, “Your hard work and dedication have propelled Gemini to heights that would have been hard to imagine when we first started building eight years ago, in the fall of 2014.”

Unfortunately, concerns over the “current macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil” necessitate taking the action of laying off astronauts. The executives asked their team leaders to focus “only on products that are critical to [its] mission.” They should “assess whether their teams are right-sized for the current, turbulent market conditions that are likely to persist for some time.”

The process put in place will include a calendar invite for an employee to discuss information related to the separation package and healthcare benefits provided. They added, “Our highest priority throughout will be to treat everyone affected with compassion and respect.”

To The Moon!

By taking this action, Gemini believes it will be “better over the long run.” The firm pointed out that great companies throughout history have faced similar challenges along the way. For instance, Coinbase just announced that it is enacting a hold on hiring and has rescinded job offers, in an effort to curtail costs.

Gemini views this inflection point as an “opportunity to double-down on [its] strongest ideas and customer-centric products, so that [it] may be the catalyst of innovation coming out of these leaner times that will help fuel the next cycle of crypto growth and adoption.”