What caught our eye this week
Foundry, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool, laid off nearly a third of its employees this on Tuesday, per Blockspace reporting. Foundry reduced its headcount from 274 to 200, a 27% reduction, of which 16% are U.S employees.
The company is executing the staff reduction in a strategic move to shore up its main lines of revenue, per sources familiar with the matter, and it coincides with a larger effort to restructure the business. Last week, the New York-based mining firm moved about 20 staff members to a new DCG subsidiary, Yuma, per Foundry documents reviewed by Blockspace. A decentralized AI startup, Yuma pivoted out of Foundry’s internal AI arm Bittensor. Notably, DCG CEO Barry Silbert is the acting CEO of Yuma.
“We recently made the strategic decision to focus Foundry on our core business – operating the #1 Bitcoin mining pool in the world and growing our site operations business – while [supporting] the development of DCG’s newest subsidiaries,” reads a statement from Foundry shared with Blockspace.
Foundry also operates significant business lines across other Bitcoin mining and general compute verticals, including self-mining, custom hardware, ASIC repairs, site operations, firmware, and decentralized AI infrastructure. Foundry dismissed employees from each of those business lines, Coyler said, adding that the company is choosing to deprioritize its hardware line.
News
Trump selects pro-crypto Paul Atkins to replace Gensler as SEC chair
President-elect Trump announced on Truth Social this week that he officially taps Paul Atkins at SEC chair appointee, specifically because he “recognizes that digital assets & other innovations are crucial to Making America Greater Than Ever Before”. Bitcoin surged over $100k shortly after the announcement.
Binance adds BTC staking through Babylon
Binance users can now stake their BTC directly to Babylon through Binance Earn. Babylon currently has over 24,000 BTC staked on the platform, Binance opens up another 600,000+ BTC in idle Bitcoin.
Korea buys “dino coins” while also under martial law
Westerners may have been blindsided the past 2 weeks as 2017-era coins such as XRP, Cardano, and Stellar Lumens, soared to the highest they’ve been in years. Apparently it has been primarily driven by South Korean speculation. Korean exchange UpBit did a record $27 billion in daily volume on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Korean President surprised by attempting to declare martial law in the country due to political tension.
Creditors file involuntary petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy against Mawson
Creditors seeking $13.78 million in claims have filed an involuntary petition for the company to enter Chapter 11 bankruptcy. According to Mawson’s Q3 2024 financials, the company has $59.19 million in current liabilities, the bulk of which includes $36.27 million in trade and other payables and $21.37 million in debt. Shares ($MIGI) have fallen 41% since the announcement.
Chart of the Week
Bitcoin “sentiment” in media & culture is surprisingly positive this week, per Bitcoin Perception.
