The crypto industry has seen a significant decrease in layoffs over the past month, with an estimated 570 employees dismissed in February compared to 2,850 in January. This is according to data compiled by Cointelegraph, which found job cuts were spread across at least 12 companies.

The most recent layoffs came from crypto analytics firms Elliptic and Messari, which cut 10% and 15% of staff, respectively. Messari founder, Ryan Selkis, tweeted on Feb. 23 that the staff cuts were due to “market headwinds” and a restructuring of their internal teams. Meanwhile, an Elliptic spokesperson said the decision to lay off 20 employees was a move to tamp down operating expenses.

Chainalysis, another blockchain analytics company, revealed it had laid off 44 of its 900 employees, representing 4.8% of its workforce “primarily in sales.” Neil Dundon, an Australia-based crypto recruiter, told Cointelegraph “the spike in layoffs is a macro event not just in Web3 but tech in general fueled by fears of an extended recession.”

Data from layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi revealed there was a total of 24,572 employees laid off across 129 tech companies in February, down from 84,414 across 268 tech companies in January.

Nonfungible token (NFT) company Dapper Labs and Ethereum-scaling platform Polygon Labs both dismissed around 20% of staff as a result of internal restructuring. Immutable, the Australian firm behind another Ethereum layer-2 blockchain protocol, also reportedly cut staff during the month, reducing headcount by 11%. Other firms to announce headcount reductions included crypto exchange Bittrex, NFT marketplace Magic Eden, institutional crypto custodian Fireblocks, software firm Protocol Labs and crypto media company The Block.

Payments company Affirm announced it was sunsetting its crypto program during the month amid a 19% staff cut, though it is not known how many employees from its crypto unit were dismissed as a result.

Kevin Gibson, founder of blockchain recruitment firm Proof of Search, said the pace of layoffs appears to have slowed compared to January. “Jan was big as it followed boards [and venture capital] looking [at] 2022 results and preparing for the worst,” he said. “We have seen less laid-off candidates this month.”

The crypto industry has seen a significant decrease in layoffs over the past month, with an estimated 570 employees dismissed in February compared to 2,850 in January, according to data compiled by Cointelegraph. This is a stark contrast to the triple-digit crypto exchange layoffs compiled in January, such as those from Coinbase, Crypto.com and Huobi.

The layoffs have been spread across at least 12 companies, with the most recent coming from crypto analytics firms Elliptic and Messari, which cut 10% and 15% of staff, respectively. Chainalysis, another blockchain analytics company, revealed it had laid off 44 of its 900 employees, representing 4.8% of its workforce “primarily in sales.”

Neil Dundon, an Australia-based crypto recruiter, told Cointelegraph “the spike in layoffs is a macro event not just in Web3 but tech in general fueled by fears of an extended recession.” Data from layoff tracker Layoffs.fyi revealed there was a total of 24,572 employees laid off across 129 tech companies in February, down from 84,414 across 268 tech companies in January.

Nonfungible token (NFT) company Dapper Labs and Ethereum-scaling platform Polygon Labs both dismissed around 20% of staff as a result of internal restructuring. Other firms to announce headcount reductions included crypto exchange Bittrex, NFT marketplace Magic Eden, institutional crypto custodian Fireblocks, software firm Protocol Labs and crypto media company The Block.

Kevin Gibson, founder of blockchain recruitment firm Proof of Search, said the pace of layoffs appears to have slowed compared to January. “Jan was big as it followed boards [and venture capital] looking [at] 2022 results and preparing for the worst,” he said. “We have seen less laid-off candidates this month.”

Gibson however warns that the United States securities regulator could still “bring about more pain,” while continued press coverage of Sam Bankman-Fried and the FTX collapse “is having an effect on the public perception of the sector and mainstream adoption.”