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MEGA, the group behind MegaETH, lays off 20% of staff days after $30 million AI push
🔴Bearish for $MEGAA 20% staff cut at a major Ethereum layer-2 team, paired with a pivot away from its core chain work toward AI, signals pressure on the project.News sentiment, not financial advice. It reflects the likely impact of this news, not a price prediction.
Summary
MEGA, the organization behind Ethereum layer-2 network MegaETH, has cut 20% of its workforce in a restructuring, co-founder Shuyao Kong said Friday, according to The Block and Cointelegraph.
Both outlets report the cuts hit staff who helped build the MegaETH blockchain, wallet and ecosystem, while the founders, early employees and core engineering team are staying on.
The layoffs come the same week the former MegaETH Foundation rebranded as MEGA and committed $30 million to new products, including AI inference, per The Block.
Cointelegraph notes Kong did not disclose how many employees were affected or when the layoffs happened, and did not directly tie them to the new AI strategy.
Updates
- Update, : Added CoinDesk: MegaETH's DeFi TVL has fallen to $8.8 million from above $240 million, and the AI marketplace is slated for December.
Key facts
- "We've brought together new capabilities and reorganized our teams, a process that has resulted in a 20% reduction in our staff," Kong said.
- "We believe crypto is the only technology that makes AI fair and open," Kong told The Block.
- Kong said MEGA plans to launch a public inference market in December, aimed at giving users access to competing AI service providers.
- The MEGA token launched in April, with 53.3% of supply tied to KPI-based staking rewards, and traded around $0.045 at publication time, up about 7.5% over 30 days.
- Cointelegraph says the departures also included staff in ecosystem support and communications.
- CoinDesk, citing DeFiLlama, said DeFi total value locked on MegaETH is now $8.8 million, down from a peak above $240 million, and that the MEGA token has fallen more than 70% this year (CoinDesk data); The Block separately reported the token up about 7.5% over 30 days.
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