Digital currency company Etoro has announced that it will lay off 100 employees, or roughly 6% of its workforce. In addition, Etoro revealed that it will terminate its planned special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger with Fintech Acquisition Corp. According to Etoro, the company is currently planning a private fundraising effort and is looking to raise between $800 million and $1 billion
Etoro has cut staff and the SPAC deal has been canceled
- Tel Aviv, Israel-based social trading and crypto investment platformEtorohas laid offabout 6% of its staff. The company’s CEO and co-founder Yoni Assia said the decision was based on market conditions.
- “After the current market environment and accelerated growth, we decided to take a more balanced approach between growth and profitability in the current period,” Assia said. “As a result, we have made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce to ensure long-term sustainable growth.”
- Etoro was founded in 2007 by David Ring, Ronen Assia, and Yoni Assia to provide traders with access to cryptocurrencies, commodities, indices, and stocks. To date, Etoro has raised $322.7 million from investors and made three acquisitions.
- While the company is reducing its staff by 6%, Etoro has decided to cancel its planned SPAC merger with blank check firm Fintech Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: FTCV).Etoro had planned an initial public offering (IPO) through the SPAC transaction ), but now plans to raise funds privately.
- Reportedly, Etoro is already focused on obtaining $800 million to $1 billion in private financing, with an overall valuation of around $5 billion Prior to the cancellation of the SPAC transaction, Etoro’s valuation was estimated at $8.8 billion to $10.3 billion It was estimated to be between $8.8 billion and $10.3 billion.
- Since the termination of the SPAC merger was mutually agreed upon, neither party is required to pay a termination fee.
- Etoro’s Assia noted that the company is confident that the Israel Technology Group will continue to grow.” We are confident in our long-term growth strategy and excited for Etoro’s future,” Assia said in a statement.
- Meanwhile, Fintech Acquisition Corp’s stock price surged this week after the news, with FTCV up 0.10% from the previous day, currently trading hands at$9.86 per share.
- Etoro’s layoffs follow a 10% cut in its staffafter Verbit indicated it would lay off 80 employees from the US and 30 from Israel. Additionally, a number of crypto companies are laying off workers, including companies such as Gemini, Bullish, Robinhood, Bitso, Crypto.com, 2TM, Buenbit, and Coinbase.
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