Crypto.com is laying off roughly 180 employees, about 12% of its workforce, as the Singapore-based exchange integrates AI across its business, with CEO Kris Marszalek writing on X that “companies that do not make this pivot immediately will fail.” The cuts come as Bitcoin has slumped roughly 40% since peaking above $126,000 last October, pressuring crypto-linked businesses, with Gemini and Block also making significant workforce reductions this year, the latter cutting nearly half its staff in a move it similarly attributed to AI. The layoffs have drawn skepticism from some observers who see a pattern of companies using AI as cover for trimming headcount during a downturn, a practice critics have labeled “AI washing.”
