The NEAR Foundation recently announced its plan to undergo a significant restructuring, reducing its team by approximately 40%, resulting in 35 employees being impacted. This move is part of the foundation’s realignment initiative, aimed at streamlining its operations and focusing on activities with a higher impact. The decision comes after a thorough review that revealed the foundation’s inefficiencies in certain areas, including slow progress and spreading its efforts too thin.
One of the key aspects of NEAR Foundation’s restructuring is the decision to concentrate on activities that can yield a greater impact. As a result, the community, business development, and marketing teams will be the most affected by the layoffs. However, the engineering team will remain intact, ensuring that the technical aspects of the foundation’s projects continue to be supported.
By narrowing its focus, the NEAR Foundation aims to increase its efficiency and speed in advancing key objectives. These objectives include chain abstraction, mainstream adoption of the Open Web, and the development of user-owned AI. With a more streamlined approach, the foundation believes it can make substantial progress and achieve its goals in a shorter timeframe.
Support for Transitioning Employees
The NEAR Foundation is committed to supporting the employees affected by the restructuring by helping them find new opportunities within the Web3 industry, the NEAR ecosystem, or other relevant sectors. This commitment highlights the foundation’s dedication to its team members and acknowledges their contributions, even in the face of organizational changes. By assisting these individuals in finding new roles, the foundation aims to mitigate the negative impact of the layoffs and provide a smoother transition for all parties involved.
Despite the restructuring, the NEAR Foundation emphasizes that its treasury remains secure and robust. Currently, the foundation holds significant funds, including $285 million in fiat currency, 305 million NEAR tokens valued at over $1 billion, and $70 million in loans and investments. These financial resources provide the foundation with considerable stability and the means to continue its operations and initiatives effectively.
While the NEAR Foundation’s restructuring is significant, it is not an isolated case within the cryptocurrency industry. Several other crypto-related firms have recently undergone similar restructuring processes. For instance, Blackrock, a major player in the industry, plans to downsize its team by 3%, affecting approximately 600 employees. These restructuring efforts are not related to capital issues but are instead aligned with performance evaluations and the need to optimize operations.
The crypto industry, as a whole, experienced a wave of layoffs in 2023, with over 13,400 employees globally being affected across 108 companies. OpenSea, a prominent NFT marketplace, reduced its staff by 50% in November 2023 as part of its transition to OpenSea 2.0. Ava Labs, the team behind the Avalanche blockchain, also downsized its workforce by 12% during the same month to reallocate resources and focus on growth. Additionally, Polkadot Technologies, known for its interoperable blockchain protocol, reduced its workforce by 30%, primarily in the business development and marketing departments, to sharpen its technological focus.
Furthermore, major cryptocurrency exchanges such as Coinbase and Binance also underwent workforce downsizing in the past year. These restructuring efforts, alongside the NEAR Foundation’s own initiative, reflect the dynamic nature of the industry and the evolving strategies employed by companies to adapt to changing market conditions and optimize their operations.
The NEAR Foundation’s decision to undertake a significant restructuring marks a pivotal moment in its journey toward efficiency and focus. By narrowing its scope of activities and optimizing its operations, the foundation aims to achieve higher impact outcomes in advancing chain abstraction, Open Web adoption, and user-owned AI. While the restructuring may create some short-term disruptions, the foundation is committed to supporting the affected employees and ensuring a smooth transition. With a secure and robust treasury, the NEAR Foundation is well-positioned to continue its operations and drive forward the innovation and development of Web3 technologies.
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