Agreement to reduce workforce by 20% – CEO outlines decentralization plans.
Blockchain development company Consensus has begun restructuring its core business by cutting its workforce by more than 20%.
Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph, Ethereum founder and Consensus CEO Joe Lubin confirmed that 162 employees were affected by the move. The company is looking to accelerate efforts to streamline operations and decentralize its various core business offerings.
“It's for a variety of reasons, and to me, they feel pretty equal. The first is the obvious, less important than the others, aspects of long-term financial sustainability in light of potential economic volatility,” Lubin explained.
Lubin said Consensus is looking to become a “smaller, more agile organization” better equipped to leverage the “broader and deeper capabilities” the firm has built over time.
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Consensys is known for developing the browser-based Ethereum wallet MetaMask, the Layer-2 protocol Linea, and other Ethereum-focused software products and services. The company currently employs 828 people.
Lubin emphasized that Consensys is committed to supporting team members with generous severance packages, severance services and extended health care benefits. Displaced employees will have an extension of stock option exercise windows from 12 months to 36 months.
The SEC's legal battle had no effect on the restructuring.
The deal is embroiled in a legal battle with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in 2024 as the agency continues to target various companies and projects in the Ethereum ecosystem.
In an earlier interview with Cointelegraph, Lubin indicated that the spending by Consensus was necessary to combat what the industry sees as a major assault by the administration of SEC Chairman Gary Gensler.
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Lubin downplayed any suggestion that Consensys had overextended its resources on legal expenses, questioning whether Cointelegraph's efforts to take on the SEC had influenced its restructuring plans.
“We don't overextend our resources. We did not choose this fight. The SEC has been bombarding the ecosystem with investigations, well notices and lawsuits for years.
Lubin added that Consensus has taken a “premeditated approach to conducting the offensive” against the SEC.
Vitalik Call for Ethereum L2 Decentralization
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin urged Layer-2 projects to actively decentralize their operations and protocols by 2024 in an effort to combat centralization threats.
According to Lubin, Consensys is working to decentralize itself from any external pressure.
“Anything Vitalik says in that vein will get me and the company happy, but there's no more pressure on us than anyone other than Vitalik or Consensus.
Lubin added that Consensys is preparing to rapidly transition to decentralized models with many of its projects.
Prioritize MetaMask, Linea, Infura
The restructuring at Consensys is comprehensive, with Lubin acknowledging that no particular department will face more layoffs than others.
We will focus more on metamask and linear animations. Infura was in the process of transitioning through DIN, a decentralized infrastructure network, Lubin said.
Infura is critical to MetaMask's functionality, he added. The long-term goal for MetaMask is to be able to expand and host multiple different blockchains.
“This is both EMM [Ethereum Virtual Machine] Blockchains that we can trust with third parties on the DIN network, that we can easily control, but non-EVM blockchains.
Lubin emphasized that Consensys is looking to convert a suite of Ethereum products into protocols, including offerings such as MetaMask, Infura, Truffle, Diligence, Besu, Teku, GNARK, DIN and Linea.
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