Jeremy Allaire’s Circle Lays Off 10% of Staff amid Prickly US Regulation
By CCN: Bitcoin has been booming lately, but Circle, the parent company of crypto exchange Poloniex, announced yesterday afternoon that about 30 employees are leaving as part of “organizational changes.” Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire cited an increasingly burdensome regulatory environment in the United States as part of the impetus for the move.
Today we made organizational changes at Circle and eliminated approximately 30 positions, which is about 10% of our employees. We made these changes in response to new market conditions, most importantly, an increasingly restrictive regulatory climate in the United States.
— Jeremy Allaire (@jerallaire) May 21, 2019
Circle: Regulations Are Strangling U.S. Crypto Industry
The announcement follows a blog post by Jeremy Allaire in which he decries the regulatory situation for cryptocurrency in the United States. The Circle CEO wrote:
“Innovators, including those working around the clock at Circle and many other companies in the U.S. and abroad, have continued to transform what’s possible with crypto and blockchain technologies. Unfortunately, regulation has failed to keep up. […] [L]awmakers who take the time to learn about crypto and blockchain technology recognize its economic potential. […] [I]nnovation happens quickly and global competition is fierce. We urge lawmakers to recognize the unparalleled economic power that permissionless innovation has unleashed and to act to let crypto and blockchain technologies flourish. We know lawmakers want to support economic growth and want them to cease the opportunity to lead the charge.”
The Trump Administration, embroiled in the fallout from the Mueller investigation, has been extremely quiet on the issue of cryptocurrency or blockchain’s difficulty to flourish in the Land of the Free. Bitcoin’s overall future remains uncertain, with some politicians suggesting permissive legislation like the Token Taxonomy Act and others calling for an all-out ban.
Bull Market Layoffs Met With Hostility
Reactions to the tweet were mostly negative. Much of the response was criticism for Circle’s acquisition of Poloniex, which one Twitter person tied directly to Circle’s “failure.”
Own your failure.
You bet on scam ICOs and shitcoins over Bitcoin, and you lost.
— Ragnar Lifthrasir 🏴 (@Ragnarly) May 21, 2019
