Artificial Intelligence (AI) appears to be wreaking havoc on crypto payrolls, but are these companies really replacing humans with AI tools, or is management just trying to mask some really bad decisions? On March 19, Kris Marszalek, CEO of digital asset exchange Crypto.com, announced that his firm was “joining the list of companies integrating enterprise-wide AI.” Marszalek warned that companies that fail to follow his lead “immediately” will fail, while those that make this human-to-AI pivot slowly “will be left behind.” The warning comes too late for 12% of the Singapore-based Crypto.com’s workforce—roughly 180 people.
Marszalek claimed to be “deeply grateful” for the sacrifice made by these now-redundant cogs in his machine, who are “receiving resources to support their transition”. Regardless, Marszalek said, “this new foundation sets us up for continued success.” For the record, this is the third payroll purge Crypto.com has made in the past four years. In 2022, as a growing number of crypto firms began collapsing under their own financial mismanagement, Crypto.com sacked about 260 members of its 5,000-member team.
A larger cut, roughly 20% of its remaining staff, came the following year as the post-FTX “crypto winter” officially set in. The layoffs came just over a month after Marszalek announced that he’d purchased the AI.com domain the previous April for the low, low price of $70 million, according to the individual who brokered the deal. That would make the purchase the highest price ever paid for a domain name. Marszalek’s AI.com launched on February 8, offering autonomous personal AI agents to average Joes and Janes.
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