Chia Network Faces IPO Setback, Lays Off 26 Workers – Bear Market Woes Continue?

Source: AdobeStock / ryanking999The bear has claimed more victims: blockchain and smart-contract platform Chia Network announced today that it has fired nearly 30 of its staff, at the time the company is making moves to go public in the US

According to the post on the project’s Twitter account, Chia has “eliminated 26 positions” across the Network."

It stated that,

“The Crypto Winter, industry skepticism, and banking crises have created a challenging funding environment. We’ve cut costs across the org, scaled back budgets, and faced a black swan event of our underwriter failing.”

The project is still focused on creating sustainable teams and processes that will drive enterprise adoption on the Chia blockchain, it added.

To those impacted: We’re losing great people. Thank you for everything you’ve done for Chia and the eco. 3/4

— Chia Network (@chia_project) October 2, 2023

Commenters seem to be sympathetic, but many also argue that Chia may be too focused on the US and that it should spread its wings into other markets

Others opined that it is not uncommon for a software company to over-hire when going for an initial public offering (IPO).

Meanwhile, some requested the team share more information.

Can you please elaborate on the event of “your underwriter failing”? What exactly happened, and what does this mean for the company? Thank you

— Darin (@dogbones41) October 3, 2023

Further IPO Roadblocks

Its FAQ page notes that Chia was incorporated in August 2017 to develop an improved blockchain and smart transaction platform

“Called Proof of Space and Time, it was created by Bram Cohen, the best network protocol engineer alive and the inventor of BitTorrent,” it states

The company filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this year to kick off the IPO process.

But this latest event may have delayed its listing further, following the baking partner Credit Suisse crisis

Cryptonews reached out to Chia for comment.

Per the website,

“Chia intends to complete a fully compliant SEC-registered equity IPO and will come to market as market-timing is amenable after the launch of mainnet.”

Meanwhile, the company still has positions open. It offers five jobs in engineering, business development, and “general interest.”

Chia Price Plummets

Commenters have pointed out the abrupt price drop of the project’s native coin over the past 24 hours.

On Tuesday morning (UTC), XCH was down 14.1% to $23.77. It is also down 12% over the past seven days and 19% over a month

XCH 7-day price chart:

Source: coingecko.comThe coin saw its all-time high of $1,645 in May 2021, falling 98% since. That said, it had hit its all-time low of $23.19 today

Its market capitalization is $206.5 million, and it recorded a 24-hour trading volume of $29.37 million

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Learn more:

• Eco-Friendly Crypto Startup Chia Network Pursues US IPO with Confidential Filing

• Chia Network ‘Opened Discussions’ With Investors, Debuts On Exchanges

• Chia In Spotlight Amid Global Hard Disc Shortage

• Asset-Backed Tokens Gain Popularity in Challenging ICO Landscape