Coinbase-backed Vauld Cuts Workforce by 30%, Seeks To Halve Exec Pay

Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Vauld is the next firm to downsize, despite raising $25 million one year ago

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Affected employees are from Vauld’s marketing, talent acquisition and other divisions
  • They will receive two months’ salary in severance and retain a 12-month health insurance plan

Singapore-based Vauld is the next cryptocurrency exchange to reduce its workforce as downtrodden markets continue stressing the industry.

The firm, whose employees are mostly based in India, has laid off 30% of its staff working in marketing, talent acquisition and other departments, Moneycontrol reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. 

Falling prices and trade volumes were to blame, sources said, as well as tax concerns. Vauld CEO Darshan Bathija told Moneycontrol that affected employees will receive two months’ salary in severance pay. 

Vauld’s reported headcount is under 200, with 97 employees on LinkedIn. The exchange processed $3.3 million in cryptocurrency trades over the past day, according to CoinMarketCap.

In addition to keeping their joining bonus and a 12-month health insurance policy that includes dependents, affected employees will also be able to work with Vauld’s talent team to bag another job, Bathija said.

The exchange also plans to shrink executive compensation by 50% and trim marketing expenses. The firm will additionally slow recruitment and place vendor engagements on hold, according to the report.

Vauld’s belt-tightening comes at a time when cryptocurrency exchanges around the world have announced layoffs in quick succession, affecting upwards of 1,600 employees overall. Coinbase is cutting 18% of its workforce; Gemini is downsizing its staff by 10%; and Crypto.com is losing 5%.

“Crypto winter seems to have already begun, and it’s to be expected that all companies which are highly dependent on cryptocurrencies and other digital assets are anticipating lower activity for the foreseeable future,” Uldis Teraudkalns, CEO at Nexpay, told Blockworks.

“Crypto has been inflated over 2021, and the most experienced companies that have been through multiple cycles are preparing for a down period.”

Vauld’s most recent funding round was in July 2021, when it raised $25 million in a Series A round led by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures. Existing investors Coinbase and Pantera Capital also participated in that round. So far, it has raised $27 million. 

Bathija told the Economic Times that most of its customers are from the US, followed by investors from India, Europe and Singapore. In May, the CEO and his co-founder Sanju Kurian were featured on Forbes Asia’s 30 under 30 list.

Less than a week before layoffs were announced, Bathija played down the effect of volatile markets on Vauld’s business in a blog post. He declared that Vauld has no exposure to troubled cryptocurrency firms Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, which recently admitted to liquidity issues.

Vauld didn’t immediately return Blockworks’ request for comment.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

REPORT_Template.png

Research

The Sonic blockchain is leveraging redesigned airdrop incentives and its FeeM program to propel DeFi activity and attract institutional capital, setting the stage for ecosystem growth. Within this environment, leading protocols Shadow Exchange and Silo are poised to asymmetrically benefit due to innovative features and favorable valuations, despite facing ecosystem dependency and competitive pressures. This positions them as compelling, potentially shorter-term, investment opportunities contingent on Sonic's sustained success.

article-image

Sponsored

WalletConnect is the default for secure, scalable onchain interaction — but this isn’t a peak, it’s the launchpad

article-image

Circle’s stock is expected to price at $31 and will go public on the NYSE Thursday

article-image

Solana’s most prolific token-launch tool might be prepping a token of its own

article-image

The tentative agreement China and the US penned last month appears to be in a precarious position

article-image

Fineqia’s Matteo Greco says Circle’s targeting a valuation in line with market expectations to avoid a post-launch drop like Coinbase

article-image

The President’s son reportedly said his family may pursue legal action