Foundry, a major mining pool and a subsidiary of DCG, laid off 60% of its staff. These layoffs targeted the company’s non-core functions, including its entire hardware team and a possible future sale of mining site operations.
However, DCG founder Barry Silbert is also launching new projects, with the Yuma AI Ecosystem Accelerator debuting last week.
Massive Layoffs at Foundry
Foundry, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool, is laying off 60% of its staff. This news comes from anonymous company sources that spoke with Blockspace. The company, however, did share a statement on the subject:
“We recently made the strategic decision to focus Foundry on our core business while supporting the development of DCG’s newest subsidiaries. As part of this realignment, we made the difficult decision to reduce Foundry’s workforce, resulting in layoffs across multiple teams,” Foundry claimed.
This mention of Digital Currency Group’s (DCG’s) other subsidiaries is particularly noteworthy. Foundry is just one of several DCG operations under founder Barry Silbert, and not all of them are experiencing similar turmoil. Silbert recently announced the launch of Yuma, an ecosystem accelerator for AI development.
In other words, DCG’s troubles are not evenly distributed across its various subsidiaries. A little over a year ago, the bankrupt crypto lender Gensis sued DCG, its own parent company, over unpaid loans. At this time, DCG also sold CoinDesk, a prominent crypto media publication. Now, it seems that Foundry is due for similar troubles.
Earlier in August, Foundry cemented its place as one of the world’s largest Bitcoin miners; it and AntPool controlled more than half the global hash rate. Nonetheless, Bitcoin mining difficulty has been very high this year, especially in the halving’s wake. Mining companies everywhere are experiencing diminishing returns.
Bitcoin Mining Hashrate 2024. Source: Blockchain.com
These layoffs have primarily targeted Foundry’s non-core employees. Of an initial crew of 250, 20 staff members were reassigned to Yuma, and between 160-170 were laid off.
These include the entire ASIC repair and hardware teams, leaving mining pool operations intact. Foundry is also considering selling its site operations team, managing Bitcoin mining locations.
It’s difficult to determine Foundry’s overall health, considering the company’s secrecy on these layoffs. For example, DCG’s Q3 2024 shareholder letter claimed that Foundry was on pace to earn $80 million in revenue, yet these layoffs still took place. Moving forward, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool could go in several directions.
