Hey Waivly Crew! 🌊 Crypto.com has joined Coinbase by laying off 20% of its global workforce. Tribeca Film Festival has teamed up with OKX to sell VIP passes as NFTs.
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Crypto.com cuts 20% of its workforce
Crypto.com is reducing about 20% of its workforce, as it navigates the ongoing crypto winter and the collapse of rival exchange FTX.
According to a statement from Crypto.com co-founder and CEO Kris Marszale, “several factors” played into the group’s decision to cut staff.
"We grew ambitiously at the start of 2022, building on our incredible momentum and aligning with the trajectory of the broader industry. That trajectory changed rapidly with a confluence of negative economic developments," Marszale said.
The group has more than 70 million users and a “strong balance sheet, but over the past year, has had to “navigate ongoing economic headwinds and unforeseeable industry events.”
These layoffs come after the company laid off 5% of its workforce in mid-2022, following the collapse of the Terra ecosystem and crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital.
"The reductions we made last July positioned us to weather the macroeconomic downturn, but it did not account for the recent collapse of FTX, which significantly damaged trust in the industry. It’s for this reason, as we continue to focus on prudent financial management, we made the difficult but necessary decision to make additional reductions in order to position the company for long-term success," Marszalek added.
The exchange is not the first crypto firm to announce layoffs this week. Coinbase also cut 20% of its staff, while Blockchain.com and Consyensys both let go of 100+ employees.
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NFT Special
Tribeca Film Festival and OKX offer VIP passes as NFTs
Tribeca Festival has teamed up with Seychelles-based crypto exchange OKX to launch the first-ever Tribeca Festival NFT pass for 2023.
Minted on Ethereum, the VIP passes will grant access to special film screenings, parties with Tribeca co-founders Jane Rosenthal and Robert De Niro, and other one-of-a-kind privileges.
“It's exciting we've partnered with the Tribeca team to introduce a first-of-its-kind NFT pass. This allows festival goers to experience Web3 and ways to build on top of this unique technology," said OKX CMO Haider Rafique. "We're particularly looking to inspire artists to create more on Web3 and we'll keep our eyes out for individuals who will do more with this concept."
The NFTs cost $899 and can be purchased directly on the Tribeca website using a credit card. The NFT artwork, designed by Jonathan Bartlett, was inspired by landscapes of Lower Manhattan, where this year’s festival will take place on June 7th-18th.
3 highly-antipcated NFT projects to follow in 2023
We’re only 13 days into 2023, and it’s already an exciting year for the NFT space. Here are three highly-anticipated projects you’ll want to keep an eye on this year!
Beeple - unknown
Beeple, a world-famous digital artist and NFT creator, took to his socials on Thursday to tease a new project, dropping on March 11th.
No details were shared, but the project may involve his studio in Charleston, South Carolina, which he is building for the entire digital art and NFT community.
RugRadio x Cory Van Lew PFPs
The upcoming Rug Radio PFPs designed by Corey Van Lew will drop on February 6th, according to the media platform’s founder, Farokh.
“The Cory Van Lew and Rug Radio collaboration is a PFP project meant to represent the faces of Web3. With Rug Radio being one of the voices of Web3, we wanted to create the Faces of Web3 for people to be able to represent Rug Radio,” Farokh told NFT Now. “In this market, people still want a PFP that represents something as part of their digital identity.”
FEWOCiOUS - Fewos
Prominent NFT artist FEWOCiOUS dropped the first official trailer for FewoWorld and its accompanying NFTs - Fewos - on Twitter yesterday.
FewoWorld is the first generative art project from the mind of FEWOCiOUS. The project is divided into three drops, Paint, Canvas, and Fewos, each playing a key role in the creation of FewoWorld.
*Nothing mentioned by Waivly is financial advice or encouragement to get involved in a said project. Do your own research, and only invest in projects that you believe in.
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