(Bloomberg) -- Circle Internet Financial Ltd., the issuer of the second-largest stablecoin in the cryptocurrency sector, said it made layoffs as part of a regular review of operations.
The job losses represent less than 6% of Circle’s workforce, a spokesperson said in a statement on Thursday, adding the firm continues to invest in geographical growth, efficiency and productivity powered by artificial intelligence. Back in June, Circle said the company had 882 employees.
“Circle regularly reviews our investments and expenses,” the spokesperson said. “This includes investing in teams and operational infrastructure that need to grow, while marginally reducing spend and some roles in other areas of the business.”
At the start of the year, Circle confidentially filed a draft registration for an initial public offering with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Allaire said in October Circle’s ambitions to go public are alive and well and that it has no need to tap private markets for capital.
Stablecoins are tokens pegged to fiat currencies, usually the US dollar, and are often used to park funds between crypto trades. Their value is typically underpinned by reserves of cash and bonds. Interest in the sector is expanding because stablecoins offer speed, cost and accessibility advantages over some regular banking payment rails.
The value of stablecoins has swollen to $200 billion, according to CoinGecko data, as US President-elect Donald Trump’s embrace of crypto spurs a boom in the digital-asset sector. Tether Holdings Ltd.’s USDT is the dominant player with $136 billion of tokens in circulation, followed by Circle’s USDC on $41 billion.
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