Consensys cut 162 employees on October 29, 2024, chief executive Joe Lubin told Cointelegraph2. Cointelegraph put the cut at more than 20 percent of the firm's workforce. Lubin, an Ethereum co-founder, posted the news to Consensys's own X account on October 29, 2024. He wrote that the cuts would help the company “position ourselves for sustainable growth and innovation while enduring a challenging regulatory and macroeconomic landscape”1. Cointelegraph gave Consensys's headcount as 828 people. Its report leaves unclear whether that count came before or after the cuts.
Three leadership moves at Consensys on the record since 2019
Every move CryptoLately has verified there, by the day it became public
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Nov. 15, 2019 | Cassatt left as Chief Strategy Officer. Sam Cassatt left as Chief Strategy Officer of Consensys |
| Oct. 29, 2024 | Layoffs. Layoffs at Consensys became public |
| April 22, 2026 | Finlay left as Co-Founder. Dan Finlay left as Co-Founder, MetaMask of Consensys |
Six rounds of layoffs on the record in 2024
Rounds of layoffs CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2024: 6
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025, 2026
Moves: The Moves Ledger, CryptoLately's record of verified leadership moves, Oct. 3, 2016 to Oct. 2, 2026.
Read the chart as a table
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| 2019 | 2 |
| 2020 | 0 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2022 | 11 |
| 2023 | 12 |
| 2024 | 6 |
| 2025 | 5 |
| 2026 | 18 |
The move
Lubin named several reasons for the restructuring in his interview with Cointelegraph. “It's motivated by a variety of factors, and to me, it feels like they're pretty equal,” he said. “The first obvious one, which is not necessarily more important than the others, is just the long-term financial sustainability aspects in the face of potential economic volatility.”2 He said Consensys aimed to become "a smaller, much more agile organization" that could capitalize on the "broad and deep capabilities" it had built over time.
Consensys's own X post addressed the people affected directly. “This transition impacts 20% of our team - colleagues whose dedication has been pivotal to our journey,” the post read. “We're grateful for their invaluable contributions to not only Consensys but the entire web3 ecosystem.”1 Lubin gave Cointelegraph the severance terms. Departing staff would get "generous severance packages, outplacement services and extended healthcare benefits"2. Their stock option exercise windows stretched from 12 to 36 months.
Consensys before and after the cuts
Lubin rejected a link between the layoffs and Consensys's legal fight with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “We didn't overextend our resources at all. We didn't pick this fight. The SEC has been carpet bombing the ecosystem for years with investigations, Wells notices and lawsuits,” he told Cointelegraph2. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin had made public calls in October 2024 for Ethereum layer-2 projects to decentralize. Lubin addressed that too. “Anything that that Vitalik says in that vein gets a cheer from me and from the company, but there's no extra pressure on us from Vitalik or from anybody outside of Consensys,” Lubin said.
The restructuring touched the whole company rather than one department, Cointelegraph reported2. Lubin said Consensys would focus more intensely on MetaMask and Linea. Infura was already transforming through the Decentralized Infrastructure Network, he said. He named the products Consensys meant to turn into protocols over time: MetaMask, Infura, Truffle, Diligence, Besu, Teku, GNARK, DIN and Linea.
What came next
CoinDesk reported on September 9, 2026, nearly two years later, that Consensys would split into two independently operated companies by the end of 20263. The existing company, Consensys Software Inc., will rebrand as MetaMask under Lubin as chairman and CEO. A newly formed company will keep the Consensys name and take over the firm's protocols and institutional infrastructure business, including Linea. Mike Kriak is set to lead the new Consensys as CEO, with David Cunningham as president and Lubin as executive chairman, CoinDesk reported. The outlet said the split follows Consensys delaying a planned U.S. initial public offering. It had reportedly engaged JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs for that listing. Consensys stayed silent on which entity, if either, might still pursue a listing, CoinDesk said.
Sources
- Consensys, "A message from our CEO @ethereumjoseph," X, October 29, 2024, https://x.com/Consensys/status/1851253994330689822
- Gareth Jenkinson, "Consensys to cut workforce by 20% — CEO outlines decentralization plans," Cointelegraph, October 29, 2024, https://cointelegraph.com/news/consensys-cuts-workforce-20-percent-ceo-outlines-decentralization-plans
- Francisco Rodrigues, "Consensys to split MetaMask into its own firm while staying silent on IPO," CoinDesk, September 9, 2026, https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiugFBVV95cUxQak02S3ViNkFyTzN4eVdsU0VJb19FZTVWTHJHY3NERFkxOVRfbTA3M09XYnJGazJUUjBKeDVZSlhMQ0t0a0tMV3QwTlVjZ0FlalA0Z3J2eWF3aTc1cUpEWlRXRW1DRTZsUno2WFgwSkJBQk1LSFpFeDhmUWVKVkNyazBhUjNqa01oQjA1XzBqc2J4QUx5cWI5OHViV0tYVjlYNjhJWDRRZDRSWW1YektZVVdQVS10RVJvb0E?oc=5