Magic Eden Lays Off 22 Staff as Part of Companywide Restructuring

Non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace Magic Eden on Monday announced that it would be laying off 22 members of its staff as part of a "companywide restructuring."

In a message posted to Twitter, CEO and co-founder Jack Lu explained the company needed to make changes to its team in order to reach new goals in 2023.

"Just 15 months ago, we were searching for product-market fit on Solana," Lu wrote. "Since then, our business has grown significantly and the nature of our challenges has evolved. Our focus areas for 2023 include growing traction across chains, developing services for NFT creators, and exploring new use cases like rewards and social experiences. As we established these priorities for the year, we had to take a hard look at what structure and roles are needed. To be clear-eyed, addressing our strategic goals requires making changes to our team. In order to reach our goals, our team must encompass certain types of new skills and expertise without losing momentum."

Lu said that many of the platform's products are "entering new stages of growth" and pledged to help affected employees during their transition.

The leading Solana-based NFT marketplace has taken a hit as the price of SOL has fallen sharply over the past year. In response, it has expanded support for Ethereum and Polygon-based NFTs to help it stay competitive against marketplaces like OpenSea.

Late last year, the company became embroiled in the debate over creator royalties, switching to a royalty-optional model, which led to a temporary dip in trading volumes.

Several other NFT platforms have downsized in recent months as the ongoing crypto winter continues to chill market movement. Last month, NFT marketplace SuperRare cut its staff by 30% while OpenSea laid off roughly 20% of its staff in July 2022.