Crypto.com cuts 12% of staff as it integrates AI across the business for efficiency

Finance Share Share this article Copy link X icon X (Twitter) LinkedIn Facebook Email Crypto.com cuts 12% of staff as it integrates AI across the business for efficiency The exchange laid off about 180 employees as it restructures and rolls out enterprise-wide AI to drive efficiencies. By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Omkar Godbole Mar 19, 2026, 11:44 a.m. Make us preferred on Google Crypto.com cited AI integration as its reason to let go roughly 180 employees. (Jesse Hamilton/Coindesk) What to know : Crypto.com has laid off about 12% of its roughly 1,500-person workforce, or around 180 employees, as it restructures and doubles down on artificial intelligence to boost efficiency. Chief executive Kris Marszalek has warned that companies that fail to rapidly integrate AI into their operations will be "left behind," following the firm's $70 million purchase of the ai.com domain and broader industry spending on AI. The cuts mark the latest in a series of workforce reductions at Crypto.com and come amid similar AI-linked layoffs across the tech and crypto sectors, even as the exchange secures conditional U.S. approval to launch a federally regulated crypto trust bank. Singapore-based crypto exchange Crypto.com is cutting about 12% of its workforce, or roughly 180 employees, as it leans into AI-driven efficiency, joining a growing wave of firms shrinking teams while betting on automation. "We are joining the list of companies integrating enterprise-wide AI," a Crypto.com spokesperson told CoinDesk. "As we continue to prioritize resources around key growth areas and drive efficiencies across our business, we reduced our workforce by approximately 12%." Kris Marszalek, Crypto.com's CEO, on X said companies that do not pivot toward the integration of AI into their processes will fail. "Companies that move slowly will be left behind," he added. "Companies that move immediately and pair the best AI tools with top performers will achieve a level of scale and precision that was previously impossible. This is where we must go." In February, Marszalek said Crypto.com spent $70 million to buy ai.com, signaling his company's move into artificial intelligence, a sector that reached nearly $1.5 trillion in worldwide spending in 2025, according to Gartner. The Singapore-headquartered exchange had around 1,500 employees before the cuts. The move marks the latest round of layoffs at Crypto.com, which has trimmed staff multiple times in recent years amid shifting market conditions and internal restructuring, including a 20% workforce reduction in 2023. Crypto.com's layoffs also follow Block's decision to reduce its 6,000-strong workforce by 40%. Its founder and CEO, Jack Dorsey, cited AI-enabled productivity gains as the reason for the cuts. He said AI allows smaller teams to move faster. In January, OKX announced it was restructuring its global institutional business, resulting in job losses it claimed were not a "mass layoff." The exchange didn't mention the exact number. That same month, Polygon laid off 60 employees, disputing reports it let go 30% of its staff. In the U.S., the technology industry cut about 22,291 jobs last year. The Crypto.com spokesperson said all employees, who before the layoff totalled roughly 1,500 worldwide, have been notified and will receive resources to support their transition. The Singapore-based exchange, which boasted 100 million registered accounts and approximately $750 billion in trading volume in 2025, recently received conditional approval from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) to establish a national trust bank, setting the stage for the exchange to expand its custody services under federal oversight. Cryptocurrency More For You Polymarket acquires Brahma to scale blockchain trading infrastructure By Olivier Acuna | Edited by Stephen Alpher 15 hours ago "Building reliable infrastructure across blockchain networks and traditional financial rails is hard — there are no shortcuts,” said Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan. What to know : Polymarket has acquired financial infrastructure firm Brahma, bringing its team and real-time execution and settlement technology into the prediction markets platform. The acquisition is intended to help Polymarket scale its infrastructure and product suite as it grows. Brahma, which has processed more than $1 billion in transaction volume, will phase out all existing products within 30 days and has instructed users to migrate their funds and positions. Read full story Latest Crypto News Capital is shifting into digital dollars as bitcoin wilts 17 minutes ago Venus’ XVS token plunges 9% as exploit leaves protocol with bad debt 27 minutes ago Bitcoin slips to $70,000 as oil surge, Fed pause weigh on risk assets 1 hour ago Bitcoin’s quantum threat is real, but far from an existential crisis, Galaxy says 1 hour ago Bitcoin, unusually, outperforms gold as hawkish Fed, oil price fuel risk-off sentiment 1 hour ago Bitcoin OGs dump over $100 million in BTC after hawkish Fed dents rate cut hopes 4 hours ago Top Stories SEC approves Nasdaq's move to support tokenized securities trading 15 hours ago Forget market hours: Leading ETP firm just opened 24/7 liquidity for tokenized stocks, gold and money market funds 5 hours ago Sam Bankman-Fried's bankrupt exchange FTX set to repay creditors $2.2 billion this month 16 hours ago Fairshake's $10 million Illinois misfire marks first big hitch in crypto political surge 15 hours ago Kalshi co-founder fights back against Arizona’s ‘overstep’ in what a lawyer calls a federal-state turf war 17 hours ago