Uphold, a digital asset trading platform, is laying off 85 employees, representing 17% of its global workforce, as it reallocates resources from retail crypto trading toward enterprise services.
The cuts come as the cryptocurrency industry contends with a prolonged market downturn. The total cryptocurrency market capitalization stood at $2.1 trillion at the end of Q2 2026. U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs recorded $6.9 billion in net outflows during May and June, though flows recovered in July with a six-day inflows streak.
Simon McLoughlin, Uphold’s CEO, said the company is “recalibrating after several years of extraordinary growth, during which we nearly doubled our headcount.” He added that “despite the current slowdown in crypto trading activity, we’ve never been more confident in the prospects for digital assets and blockchain technology.”
Enterprise Focus and Consumer Expansion
Uphold stated it is not closing any offices and all locations remain fully staffed and operational. The company is shifting focus toward its enterprise infrastructure business, which enables banks, fintechs and broker-dealers to integrate crypto trading and custody services.
Simultaneously, Uphold plans to expand its consumer app in 2026. According to McLoughlin, “In 2026, we’re expanding our popular consumer app into a multi-asset, blockchain-enabled financial companion.” He outlined the roadmap: “By year end, the app will offer US stocks, tokenized securities, asset-backed lending, credit cards, prediction markets and enhanced DeFi yield opportunities on assets including XRP.”
Market Context
The layoffs reflect broader headwinds in the crypto sector. The industry is experiencing a prolonged downturn marked by three consecutive quarters of market capitalization declines. Weaker retail crypto activity, combined with higher interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and persistent ETF outflows, have contributed to the slowdown.
Uphold was founded in 2015 and is based in New York City. The platform serves both retail and institutional customers, enabling them to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, equities and precious metals through a single account.
