The Near Foundation, responsible for developing the Layer-1 protocol of the same name, has announced a 40% reduction in its workforce. This decision aims to streamline the core team and concentrate on more impactful activities.
On January 11th, the Foundation revealed its plan to dismiss 35 staff members from its marketing, business development, and community departments. This move follows criticisms that the foundation was underperforming, often slow in action, and overextending itself.
Despite these layoffs, the Near Foundation maintains a robust financial standing, with over $285 million in fiat, 305 million NEAR tokens valued at over $1 billion, and $70 million in investments and loans. The Foundation is confident in its ability to keep fostering the growth and decentralization of the NEAR protocol and its ecosystem, as emphasized by CEO Illia Polosukhin.
This restructuring follows the departure of former CEO Marieke Flament, who resigned on September 21, 2023, without citing specific reasons. Under Flament's leadership from 2021 to 2023, the Foundation's financial reserves increased to 330 million NEAR tokens, valued at $350 million at her departure. Additionally, during her tenure, the Near Protocol's daily active users rose from 50,000 to 3 million, its Twitter followers increased from 200,000 to over 2 million, and it was featured in more than 2,000 news articles.
