Blockchain Startup R3 Trims Fifth of Jobs in Cost-Cutting Drive
- R3 cut jobs globally across functions, people familiar say
- Blockchain adoption in finance has been slower than expected
Global investment in digital-asset firms plunged 76% in the second quarter from a year earlier.
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R3, the blockchain company backed by investors including Bank of America Corp. and Intel Corp., fired just over a fifth of its workforce last week as it seeks to preserve cash to weather an industry downturn, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The New York-based company, one of the earliest startups to focus on developing blockchain-based systems for banks and other financial firms, said in a Sept. 11 blog post that it was reducing headcount, without giving figures. R3 eliminated jobs globally across different functions, the people said, asking not to be named discussing private information.