StarkWare is reducing its workforce as part of a strategic pivot toward revenue-generating initiatives, according to a statement from co-refounder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson on Monday.
The Israel-based firm, which develops the Starknet Ethereum layer-2 scaling network, is consolidating its operations into two purpose-focused units. These new teams will oversee engineering, product, and go-to-market strategies, with an emphasis on business development.
Ben-Sasson stated on X that the company must prioritize efficiency to ensure a sustainable path forward. He noted that while the firm has built advanced infrastructure, the current scale of the team has hindered speed.
“Our new strategy requires that we move fast, and we’re too big and too inefficient for that,” Ben-Sasson said.
A shift to startup mode
The restructuring follows a period of significant volatility for the Starknet ecosystem. The native token dropped roughly 75% over the past year, trading near $0.03 on Monday.
Financial data from DefiLlama shows Starknet generated approximately $3,500 in revenue over a recent 24-hour period. In contrast, Coinbase’s Base network generated roughly $89,000 in chain revenue during the same window.
Ben-Sasson described the reorganization as a return to a more agile mindset. “It’s a bit like going back to startup mode,” he said, adding that the transition will require "immense effort."
StarkWare is not alone in its recent downsizing. Competitor OP Labs recently laid off 20 employees to reduce overhead, while Polygon Labs cut 30% of its workforce in January.
This trend of slimming operations has hit several crypto-native firms this year. Block Inc. also executed massive cuts in February, letting go of 4,000 workers.
Under the new strategy, StarkWare aims to focus on fewer, higher-quality developments to find product-market fit through experimentation. The company has previously focused on infrastructure, such as the recent launch of 'private Bitcoin' on the Starknet network.
