Uphold has slashed its workforce by 17%, cutting approximately 85 employees and contractors as it pivots resources toward its enterprise banking division, according to CoinDesk sources. The multi-asset platform, which handles crypto, fiat, and precious metals, nearly doubled headcount during recent expansion but is now “recalibrating” after what CEO Simon McLoughlin described as extraordinary growth.
The restructuring prioritizes Uphold’s B2B infrastructure business, which provides banks, fintechs, and broker-dealers with turnkey digital asset services via API. This white-label approach lets traditional institutions offer crypto trading and custody without developing regulated infrastructure in-house—a model seeing surging demand as legacy finance accelerates digital asset adoption.
Despite the layoffs, Uphold maintains its consumer roadmap, planning to compete with Robinhood and Coinbase by adding US stocks, tokenized securities, lending products, and prediction markets by end-2026. The cuts represent resource reallocation rather than consumer retreat, positioning Uphold across both retail and institutional markets simultaneously.
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FXnCO Insight
** Traditional financial institutions’ preference for outsourced crypto infrastructure over in-house builds signals accelerating institutional adoption, creating partnership opportunities for regulated digital asset service providers.
Source: Finance Magnates