Dune co-founder and CEO Fredrik Haga said on X on May 14, 2026 that the crypto data firm had cut a quarter of its staff that week. “We're restructuring Dune to sharpen our focus around the core data products thousands of customers across the crypto industry rely on,” Haga wrote. “That unfortunately means we've let 25% of the team go this week.”1
18 rounds of layoffs on the record in 2026, the most of any year
Rounds of layoffs CryptoLately has verified, by year; 2026 through Oct. 2, 2026
- 2026: 18
- 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
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 |
Stablecoins & Payments led rounds of layoffs in 2026, with two
Rounds of layoffs CryptoLately has verified in 2026, by the sector of the company
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 |
|---|---|
| Stablecoins & Payments | 2 |
| Trading Venues & Brokerage | 1 |
| Layer 1s & Infrastructure | 1 |
| Institutional Custody & Asset Management | 1 |
| Wallets & Consumer Apps | 1 |
The move
Haga named two forces behind the cuts. The first was artificial intelligence tools. “With Dune MCP, teams and agents can now build dashboards and workflows without needing to know anything about SQL nor data infrastructure (and associated bills),” he wrote, calling AI a core feature of Dune's product going forward1. The second was a shift toward serving large financial institutions. “As currencies, stocks, bonds, commodities and more move onchain, we're investing heavily in our data layer and white-glove service to power institutions,” Haga said.
The Block's report on May 14, 2026, placed the layoffs inside a wider pattern. “The move comes amid a rising trend of cutbacks across the crypto industry, with particularly notable examples at media and data firms,” the outlet wrote. Blockworks and DL News were its examples: both had shut down their newsrooms earlier in 2026 to focus on research and data products2. The Block also pointed to Coinbase, which had trimmed 14% of its staff, and Gemini, which had "drastically reduced its C-suite".
Haga closed his post with a line about the people leaving rather than the product staying. "These are exceptional people I can wholeheartedly recommend," he wrote, "ping me if you're hiring top crypto talent."1
Before and after the cuts
Dune had operated for eight years by the time of the layoffs. “For 8 years we've grown through multiple rollercoaster cycles while other data providers have come and gone,” Haga wrote, adding that the company “remain well capitalized, excited about the future, and committed to our mission of making crypto data accessible.”1 The Block reported that Dune's last funding round was a $69,420,000 Series B led by Coatue in 20222.
Haga's stated direction for Dune after the cuts rests on two bets: AI-assisted tooling that lets ordinary business users query onchain data, and a white-glove service aimed at institutions moving traditional assets onto blockchains. Both appeared in Haga's post as the reasons for narrowing the team, separate from any funding gap1.
What to watch
The test for Dune's restructuring is whether institutional clients sign on for the white-glove service Haga described, and whether Dune MCP's dashboards let customers skip Dune's own engineers for routine work. A reader can watch for Dune's next funding announcement or customer disclosure to measure whether "well capitalized" from the May 14 post held up, and whether other crypto data and media firms follow The Block's pattern of cuts into the second half of 2026.
Sources
- Fredrik Haga, post on Dune restructuring, X, May 14, 2026, https://x.com/hagaetc/status/2054937771811192837
- Daniel Kuhn, "Crypto data firm Dune cuts 25% of staff citing AI efficiencies," The Block, May 14, 2026, https://www.theblock.co/post/401322/crypto-data-firm-dune-cuts-25-of-staff-citing-ai-efficiencies