SuperRare, a curated NFT marketplace, has cut its staff by 30%, CEO John Crain announced on Friday. The cuts are the result of an extended crypto winter. Crain posted a statement on Twitter saying the company overhired to compensate for a booming NFT market.
“During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market… In recent months, it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable: We overhired, and I take full ownership of this mistake,” Crain wrote.
To remain competitive and agile, Crain said SuperRare had to cut its workforce to “rightsize” the company.
SuperRare has joined the growing list of crypto companies downsizing amid turbulent market conditions. Coinbase sacked 1,1000 employees in June after several crypto exchanges cut headcount starting in April. Only a short time after, marketplace OpenSea laid off 20% of its staff. More cuts were observed throughout the crypto industry: brokerages, trading firms, Web3 game studios, and payment processing companies.
Crain’s entire Twitter statement can be read below.
“I am saddened to share the news that today we had to part ways with many valued friends and colleagues at SuperRare Labs, a staff reduction of about 30%. Startups are a balancing act of managing rapid growth while doing everything possible to conserve limited resources. During the recent bull run, we grew in tandem with the market. In recent months it’s become clear that this aggressive growth was unsustainable: we over-hired, and I take full ownership of this mistake. To correct course, we’ve made the difficult decision to rightsize our team, ensuring that SuperRare Labs will be able to continue serving our community of artists, collectors and curators while remaining the destination for the best cryptoart in the world. The team we’ve built over the past five years is a group of incredibly talented and passionate individuals who have become close friends and have been integral to kickstarting the NFT revolution. We’re doing everything we can to help them transition to new opportunities and support them in their future endeavors. This journey is a marathon, not a sprint: we’ve achieved a tremendous amount in the past five years, from the very first artwork sold on SuperRare to Web3 spearheading the future of digital culture across nearly every industry. Each and every team member at SuperRare Labs helped make this revolution happen and they will forever be a part of our story. We know that there is still much innovation and transformation yet to come for Web3, NFTs, cryptoart, decentralized finance and governance. We are facing headwinds, yes – but there remains an incredible uncaptured opportunity as we continue building something totally new: a global digital art renaissance that is transparent, fair and that anyone can access from anywhere in the world.”
