Almost £250 billion has been wiped off the value of crypto assets worldwide in the past month.
(Picture: REUTERS)US bitcoin mining business Compass Mining fired 15% of its workforce and slashed executive pay as crypto firms tighten their belts to keep afloat amid plummeting bitcoin prices.
The company said senior management could expect a pay cut of as much as 50% as part of cost-cutting measures implemented because the firm “grew too quickly” and “failed to deliver.”
The announcement follows the departure of the company’s CEO and CFO last week after “multiple setbacks and disappointments.”
In a blog post, Compass interim CEO and CFO Thomas Heller and Paul Gosker said: “As we pursued ambitious scaling and growth goals, we failed to deliver the level of trust and service that made us successful in the first place.
“Given recent market downturn and anticipated future market conditions, we had to take a hard look at our spend and recalibrate for the future of the business.
“To our team, we know this is a difficult time for all of us, and we thank you for being willing to forego some short term benefits to set Compass up for long term success…we know there is fear, doubt and uncertainty about our future.”
It comes after Compass faced accusations from crypto mining business Dynamics Mining that it owed hundreds of thousands of dollars of unpaid energy bills. Compass denied the allegations, saying in a statement: “Many of Dynamics’s statements on social media are completely incorrect, lack any factual support and create further damage to Compass.”
Crypto companies have teetered on the edge of collapse after the price of bitcoin fell almost 40% in a matter of weeks. Almost £250 billion has been wiped off the value of crypto assets worldwide in the past month, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
On Wednesday, New York-based cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy after suspending customer trading and withdrawals, while in June, Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital went into liquidation after it failed to repay creditors, including defaulting on a $675 million loan from Voyager.
