Crypto wallet and exchange service Blockchain.com will sunset its London-based asset management arm due to macroeconomic conditions, Bloomberg reports, citing a spokesperson for the firm.
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Launched in April 2022 in partnership with Altis Partners, the so-called Blockchain.com Asset Management was meant to offer services to institutional clients. However, the company faced the destructive crypto winter, which rapidly deteriorated the macroeconomic environment.
"Blockchain.com Asset Management launched in April 2022, shortly before macroeconomic conditions deteriorated rapidly. With crypto winter now approaching the one year mark, we made the business decision to pause operating this institutional product," the spokesperson said.
The asset manager wanted to monetize its business with "algorithm-based risk-managed exposure" to bitcoin (EXANTE: Bitcoin) as well as tokens in decentralized finance. As per Bloomberg, the department has already applied to be excluded from the list of registered crypto providers in the UK.
The move comes a month after Blockchain.com reportedly laid off 28% of workforce (110 jobs) as the company wants to balance product offerings with demand. For Blockchain.com this is the second round of layoffs as the company cut around 150 jobs in July 2022 amid the market's turbulence.
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