Israeli-Led Blockchain App Company to Make Extensive Layoffs While Restructuring

Published at: March 4, 2019

Gibraltar-registered Israeli blockchain application platform First Digital Assets (FDA) will fire most its employees in a major restructuring process, the company confirmed to Israeli English-language news resource Globes on March 4.

FDA, which operates multiple spin-off companies in the blockchain space, will merge all but one of them into their parent company. Its research arm, One Alpha, will reportedly close entirely.

The latest company in the blockchain industry to perform a drastic cost-cutting exercise, FDA said tough market conditions lay at the heart of its decision.

“The cryptocurrencies market experienced an earthquake last year, which forces us to be brave and consider First Digital Assets' various activities,” the company told Globes in a statement.

“We are… focusing on our liquidity activity, which continues to be fruitful, while at the same time channeling our development efforts to creating new solutions in blockchain, which we believe is the technology of the future.”

The company did not name the exact number of employees to lose their jobs as a result of the changes.

As Cointelegraph has previously reported, several well-known cryptocurrency industry entities have already reorganized their operations, downsizing certain areas to focus on more lucrative outlets.

In December, Bitcoin mining giant Bitmain led the trend, closing down its Israeli operations entirely with the loss of 23 jobs. Blockchain software technology company ConsenSys and cryptocurrency exchange Huobi subsequently deployed similar strategies.

Tags
Blockchain
Israel
Gibraltar
Related Posts
Israel’s Bank Hapoalim joins blockchain bank guarantee platform
One of Israel’s largest banks, Bank Hapoalim, has joined a blockchain-based platform recently released by IT firm Tata Consultancy Services, or TCS. TCS’ platform, dubbed Digital Bank Guarantee, is based on the Quartz blockchain and targets the digital banking industry in Israel. The new tool will supposedly help banks more effectively manage the lifecycle of bank guarantees including issuance, modification, termination and invocation. Bank guarantees are a financial safeguard offered by banks, in which a lender ensures the obligations of a debtor are met. If a debtor fails to settle a loan, the bank will cover the cost. The solution …
Blockchain / Dec. 10, 2020
Number of Blockchain Companies in Israel Grew by Over 30% in 2019
In Israel, the number of blockchain and crypto-related companies increased by 32% in 2019, according to a report from the Israeli Bitcoin Association published on Dec. 30. The report revealed that there were 150 active companies in the field in 2019, while at the end of 2018, the number was 113. Out of the 113 companies, only 63 continue to operate today, with the information about the rest of them unavailable. The Association suggested this is because those companies did not survive the past year. Other related statistics Although the report did not provide data on the number of employees …
Blockchain / Jan. 3, 2020
Israeli Court Rules Bitcoin Is Not a Currency in Court Case Over Taxes on BTC Gains
An Israeli judge has ruled that bitcoin (BTC) is an asset and not a currency, local news site Globes reported on May 21. The judgment is significant because it means profits made by selling the cryptocurrency will now be liable to capital gains tax, Globes notes. Noam Copel, who founded the blockchain startup DAV, had bought BTC in 2011 and sold two years later — making a profit of $2.9 million at today’s rates. During the court case, he had argued that bitcoin should be regarded as a foreign currency, as fluctuations in exchange rates are not taxed. But the …
Blockchain / May 22, 2019
Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange Insures Its Crypto Assets With Local Broker
The Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange (GBX) announced that it is offering insurance on all of the assets listed on its platform, in an official GBX blog post Dec. 10. The exchange reports that it will use local firm Callaghan Insurance Brokers to insure its assets, specifying that “all assets in the custody of the GBX are fully insured, including both hot and cold wallets.” The policy also reportedly “covers all forms of professional indemnity.” GBX, a subsidiary of the Gibraltar Stock Exchange (GSX), opened in July of this year and has raised a total of $27 million in funding. In the …
Blockchain / Dec. 11, 2018
Israeli startup to create blockchain chips with $70M of fresh funds
The adoption of blockchain technology is on the rise, with the majority of enterprises looking into the technology in some capacity. As blockchain becomes more pervasive, all types of users will need the most efficient access to the capabilities of this technology. One of the responses to this has been the development of blockchain chips as energy-efficient accelerators. On Feb. 23, the Tel Aviv-based blockchain chip startup Chain Reaction announced it raised $70 million to expand its engineering team for developing its next chip. Alon Webman, the co-founder and CEO of Chain Reaction, said the new chip will be a …
Technology / Feb. 23, 2023