Crypto custody and infrastructure giant BitGo has laid off approximately 15% of its workforce. The company plans to realign its resources toward high-growth sectors like artificial intelligence and stablecoins.
In a statement posted to X, BitGo co-founder and CEO Mike Belshe described the layoffs as a difficult but necessary step. He noted that the digital asset ecosystem has evolved rapidly, forcing the firm to re-evaluate how it builds financial services. Belshe emphasized that the company needs to be sharper and more focused, concentrating its people and energy on security, trading, settlement, stablecoins, and AI-powered infrastructure.
While BitGo did not release the exact number of affected employees, its 2025 annual report listed 603 full-time workers at the end of December. Based on those figures, the 15% reduction likely impacts around 90 team members. Belshe assured remaining staff that this is a one-time action and further cuts are not anticipated. Interestingly, the company’s job board still lists 51 open roles across various regions, signaling a targeted restructuring rather than a complete hiring freeze. Following the announcement, shares in BitGo fell more than 4.5%.
The Growing Trend of AI-Driven Restructuring in Crypto
BitGo is far from alone in trimming its headcount this year. The broader crypto industry has already shed more than 5,000 jobs in 2026. A massive driver behind these layoffs is a dual pressure: a lingering slump across the wider digital asset market and massive efficiency gains brought on by artificial intelligence. Companies are finding they can do more with less, leading to aggressive restructuring.
The largest downsize of the year came from Block Inc., which slashed roughly half its workforce—about 4,000 employees—back in February. Other major players have followed a similar path over the last few months. Robinhood cut 10% of its staff in mid-June, while May saw a wave of reductions including Coinbase letting go of 700 employees (14% of staff), Kraken cutting 150 roles, and data analytics platform Dune reducing its team by 25%. Earlier in the year, Gemini and Crypto.com cut 200 and 180 roles respectively, with both explicitly pointing to the rising integration of AI as a core reason for the changes.
Tech-Wide Retrenchment Signals a Shifting Job Market
The challenges facing the crypto sector mirror a much larger correction happening across the entire technology landscape. According to tracking data from Layoffs.fyi, the broader US tech sector has surpassed 121,500 layoffs across more than 200 companies so far this year.
As high interest rates and cautious venture capital funding persist, tech firms are under immense pressure to show profitability and lean operations. The narrative has rapidly shifted from the “growth at all costs” mindset of previous years to a hyper-focus on operational efficiency. For companies like BitGo, survival and future growth mean aggressively shedding legacy operational costs to fund the costly development of next-generation AI and stablecoin infrastructure.
