Uphold cut 17% of staff as it pivots from retail exchange to institutional crypto infrastructure. CEO McLoughlin says the company signed 10 partnerships and added 3 million accounts this year.
Uphold laid off 17% of its staff. The crypto exchange and payments platform announced the reduction Monday as it shifts focus from retail trading to institutional infrastructure.
CEO Simon McLoughlin said the company nearly doubled its headcount during a period of “extraordinary growth.” Now it needs to adjust to “a much more subdued market,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
The cuts do not signal a retreat from crypto, McLoughlin said. He described an aggressive roadmap centered on digital asset infrastructure and multi-asset financial services.
Uphold has signed 10 infrastructure partnerships this year. It operates a liquidity network that connects to 32 crypto exchanges. Its embedded finance business added more than 3 million accounts, a figure the company expects to grow as U.S. regulatory clarity improves. The CLARITY Act, which would clarify stablecoin rules, remains on hold in the Senate as other priorities take precedence.
The company offers API-based services covering trading, custody, liquidity, fiat on- and off-ramps, and payments. Financial institutions can use these without building blockchain infrastructure from scratch.
Uphold also expanded its Topper fiat on-ramp solution. It lets wallets, decentralized applications, and fintech platforms embed crypto purchases directly into their products. Bitcoin mining platform GoMining integrated Uphold Platform Services (UPS) earlier this year, giving its users access to regulated fiat ramps, trading, and custody through a single layer.
In Europe, Uphold bought a Germany-based digital asset infrastructure company licensed by BaFin. That acquisition gives the firm both MiCA and MiFID permissions to operate across the European Union.
On the consumer side, Uphold launched fractional trading for more than 4,000 U.S. stocks and ETFs. Customers can now invest in traditional equities alongside cryptocurrencies. McLoughlin said the platform is designed to make asset classes seamlessly interchangeable. Once fully rolled out, users will be able to convert Tesla shares into Bitcoin or Dogecoin into Berkshire Hathaway stock in a single transaction.
Uphold’s further roadmap includes tokenized securities, asset-backed lending, credit cards, prediction markets, and enhanced DeFi yield products.
Charles Schwab is among the traditional finance giants expanding into digital assets. Uphold’s infrastructure push targets the same institutional demand.
The workforce reduction aligns with a broader trend. Crypto exchanges have been trimming staff and pivoting to more stable revenue streams after the bear market squeezed trading volumes. BitMEX and BitMart shut down operations entirely. Others cut headcount.
McLoughlin’s conviction in blockchain technology “has never been stronger,” he said. The layoffs are a reallocation toward becoming the infrastructure layer for the next generation of digital asset financial services.
The CLARITY Act remains stalled. Until it moves, Uphold will rely on existing state licenses and its European regulatory footprint to grow its enterprise business.
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