Cosmos Ignite left the CEO and more than 50% of employees

Blockchain developer Cosmos Ignite has joined the list of companies that have launched a process of staff reductions caused by the fall of the cryptocurrency market.

Ignite CEO Peng Zhong has announced that he has officially stepped down as head of Cosmos Ignite.

“Today is my last day at Ignite. Thank you for the camaraderie we shared in building the ecosystem. It has been my honor to work for this team and this community. I will miss you,” Zhong said.

Ignite’s staff has been cut by more than 50%, two former employees and a CoinDesk source close to the subject said. Some were made redundant, some voluntarily quit in exchange for severance pay.

According to the February update, Ignite’s headcount was 120 people. Now the company has left a total of 60 people. Along with Zhong Ignite, two more top managers left. Zhong did not say who would replace him as CEO.

Cosmos Ignite was founded in 2014 by Jae Kwon and Ethan Buchman. The company is known for its role in the creation of the Cosmos blockchain protocol.

In 2020, Kwon stepped down from his position as CEO over concerns about wielding too much power, but returned in May when the company split into two separate companies, Ignite and NewTendermint. Layoffs were first discussed in May.

Ignite employees were given the opportunity to apply for jobs with NewTendermint. Those who didn’t were told they would be invited to join an updated version of Ignite, a venture called Cosmos Cash that replicates the 2017 hard fork of Bitcoin Cash.

Although the development of the Cosmos ecosystem has slowed down a bit, developers continue to create products based on it. Last year, the Gravity Bridge was launched on the Cosmos network to connect the blockchain with Ethereum.