Paxos has reportedly laid off roughly 20% of its staff, with this decision communicated to the affected employees via email on Tuesday.
Crypto publication The Block reported on Wednesday that Paxos co-founder and CEO Charles Cascarilla wrote to employees to inform them of the “difficult decision” to let go of 65 team members.
The Paxos CEO wrote:
“This allows us to best execute on the massive opportunity ahead in tokenization and stablecoins. With more than $500 million on the balance sheet, we are in a very strong financial position to succeed.”
Paxos’ headcount has reduced to between 200-300, according to a source privy to the details.
Paxos eyes stablecoin market
According to details in the email cited in the report, Paxos sees the layoffs as necessary as the company looks to tap into a huge opportunity within the tokenization and stablecoin market.
The US-based company’s United Arab Emirates (UAE)-regulated subsidiary Paxos International last week launched Lift Dollar (USDL), a regulated yield-bearing stablecoin.
“The digital asset ecosystem has evolved to create mechanisms for token holders to earn yield on stablecoins, but these options are high-risk, opaque and have led to the failure of numerous firms,” Cascarilla said. “USDL is a first-of-its-kind—a regulated product, earning and paying safe yield on a daily basis.”
Lift Dollar’s launch will see Paxos International partner with global crypto exchanges, wallets and platforms to deliver daily yield to user wallets. These entities will handle the distribution of USDL to individuals and institutions, the company announced.
USDL is currently available to users in Argentina via various platforms, including Ripio, Buenbit, Manteca and Plus Crypto.
Paxos expanded its stablecoin issuance in January this year, adding native USDP to the Solana network.
The firm also adopted Chainlink’s PayPal USD price feed in February as it looked to accelerate its entry into the tokenized real-world assets (RWAs) market.