Although the financial issues that destroy nearly 40 percent of the human resources of the foundation
Near Foundation, developer of the renowned Layer-1 protocol, announced that it will lay off 40% of its staff “to dramatically consolidate the core Foundation team to focus on a narrow, high-impact set of activities.”
According to the Jan. 11 announcement, the decision to lay off 35 employees in marketing, business development and community groups came after feedback that the foundation was not always as efficient as it could be, sometimes too slow and moving. I'm trying to do a lot of things at once.”
“The NEAR Foundation will support affected colleagues at this time to help them find new opportunities in the NEAR ecosystem, the Web3 industry and beyond.”
Despite the layoffs, the Nir Foundation's finances appear to have remained strong. Currently, the treasury has more than $285 million in fiat currencies, as well as 305 million tokens worth more than $1 billion and $70 million in investments and loans.
“The Foundation is well positioned to support the continued growth, development and continued decentralization of the Proximity protocol and ecosystem,” wrote CEO Ilya Polosukin.
On September 21, 2023, the Foundation announced the resignation of its current CEO, Marieke Flament. No specific reason was given for the resignation. During Flement's tenure between 2021 and 2023, the organization's treasury balance grew to $330 million, up from $350 million when she left office. Meanwhile, the number of daily revenue users of the protocol has grown from 50,000 to 3 million, and its Twitter followers have grown from 200,000 to 2 million, citing more than 2,000 press coverage.
Related: Foundation CEO Marieke Flament resigns
