Former Bankless member Lucas reveals major layoffs at Bankless, most team members fired yesterday
Former Bankless member Lucas disclosed that Bankless conducted significant layoffs yesterday, firing most of the team members without public gratitude or assistance in finding new jobs.
Co-founder David Hoffman has liquidated all ETH; another co-founder, Ryan Sean Adams, stated that the first era of Bankless has ended, and he will reduce his content involvement, with David leading the direction of the second phase, but he will still participate in the podcast weekly and remains optimistic about ETH and Bankless.
Source: Public information
ABAB AI Insight
Bankless has rapidly expanded since its founding in 2020 as a core media outlet for Ethereum/DeFi. This large-scale layoff and adjustment of founder roles continue the trend of profitability pressure on crypto content platforms since 2025. Earlier, several similar media outlets have downsized due to declines in advertising, sponsorship, and NFT revenues.
In terms of capital strategy, David Hoffman liquidating ETH and shifting personal resources to broader explorations, while Ryan steps back to support his leadership, aims to reduce fixed labor costs. This transition moves Bankless from team-driven content to a streamlined model driven by founder IP, concentrating resources on high-impact podcasts and potential new businesses.
Similar to the layoffs and transformations seen in many crypto media during the 2022-2023 bear market, and adjustments made by platforms like CoinDesk and Decrypt in recent years, the current crypto content industry is transitioning from rapid expansion to a core IP streamlining phase. Early media outlets are maintaining survival and influence through adjustments in their founders.
Essentially, this represents capital concentration: layoffs and founder leadership shift pricing power from team-scale production to personal branding and curated content. The mechanism is that crypto media revenues are highly sensitive to market cycles, and large teams become burdensome in bear markets. After streamlining, costs can be reduced through core founder IP while retaining core audiences, forming a more sustainable structure for the second phase.
ABAB News · Law of Cognition
In bear markets, teams are cut; in bull markets, IP is relied upon. The content business always undergoes slimming down before recovery. Liquidating ETH is not a bearish move but a strategic shift of capital from holding assets to new directions. The first era relied on scale, while the second era relies on direction; founders are always the last line of defense.