Crypto.com cuts around 12% of staff as CEO pushes enterprise-wide AI integration
Kris Marszalek, co-founder and CEO of Crypto.com, announced Wednesday that the Singapore-based exchange is rolling out AI tools across every function of the company and cutting approximately 12% of its positions as part of the transition.
Affected staff have been notified and will receive transition support. No headcount figure was disclosed. Based on LinkedIn data, Crypto.com is estimated to employ between 3,000 and 4,000 people, putting the cuts at roughly 360 to 480 roles, though neither figure was confirmed.
Marszalek’s framing was quite direct. “Companies that do not move to shift to AI immediately will be left behind,” he wrote on X. “Companies that pivot right away and combine the best AI with top talent will achieve a level of scalability and precision that was previously impossible.”
Cuts are concentrated in functional roles deemed unable to adapt to the new model, a description that does not specify whether operations, compliance, customer support, or other teams are primarily affected. This is the first significant round of layoffs since the company added approximately 1,400 employees in 2024, rebuilding from a 20% cut in January 2023 that followed FTX’s collapse.
AI as Cover, or AI as Cause?
The question several analysts have raised this week, whether AI-driven layoffs reflect genuine automation gains or convenient cover for belt-tightening that would have happened regardless, applies here.
BTC is trading around $74,000, down roughly 41% from its October 2025 all-time high of $126,198, and Crypto.com’s native token CRO has fallen approximately 45% from its 2025 peak. Marszalek made no mention of market conditions, framing the restructuring entirely as a forward-looking operational shift.
The reasoning mirrors what several crypto firms have said recently. Gemini laid off roughly 25% of its staff this month, explicitly citing AI efficiency gains. Algorand Foundation cut 25% this week, citing market conditions. Messari announced layoffs alongside a leadership change and an AI data products pivot.
Block cut 4,000 employees in February across all divisions, with Jack Dorsey telling investors most companies would reach the same conclusion within a year. The consistent pattern here is AI adoption and structural redundancy are cited; market conditions are sometimes mentioned and sometimes not. At Crypto.com, only the first two were offered.
A Company That Has Cut Before
Marszalek has run this playbook before, though under different circumstances. In June 2022, Crypto.com reduced headcount by 5%, or around 260 people. A second round between July and October that year was reported to have reached an additional 2,000 employees, though never confirmed.
January 2023’s 20% cut, approximately 800 people, came in the same week Coinbase cut 950 and Blockchain.com cut 110, a concentrated wave triggered by FTX’s collapse the previous November.
Those cuts were framed as crisis management. The 12% announced Wednesday is framed differently: not a response to external shock, but a deliberate architectural shift in how the company intends to operate. Whether that distinction holds up will depend on what Crypto.com’s headcount and revenue look like twelve months from now.
