Digital asset platform Uphold cuts 17% of its workforce, pivots to enterprise business.

Digital asset trading platform Uphold has announced a global layoff of roughly 17% of its workforce, affecting 85 full-time and contract employees. The company said the restructuring aims to reallocate resources to its fast-growing enterprise services business. Uphold CEO Simon McLoughlin stated that the firm underwent rapid expansion over the past few years, nearly doubling its headcount, and the layoffs represent a realignment of its business strategy. Despite the current slowdown in crypto market trading activity, the company remains bullish on the long-term prospects of digital assets and blockchain technology. Founded in 2015 and headquartered in New York, Uphold offers trading services for cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, stocks, and precious metals to users. In recent years, it has gradually expanded its enterprise infrastructure business, assisting banks, fintech firms, and brokerages in integrating crypto trading and custody services. The layoffs come amid a prolonged crypto market slump. By the end of Q2 2026, the global total cryptocurrency market cap had fallen to around $2.1 trillion, with trading volumes declining and retail participation waning due to high interest rates, geopolitical uncertainty, and outflows from crypto ETFs. Uphold noted that it has not closed its UK operations or any other overseas offices, and regional operations remain fully functional. Looking ahead, the company plans to continue expanding its enterprise platform, while adding features including U.S. stocks, tokenized securities, asset-backed loans, credit cards, prediction markets, and DeFi yields to its consumer app. Market observers say Uphold’s restructuring reflects the crypto industry’s shift away from relying on retail trading revenue toward competing in institutional services, asset tokenization, and financial infrastructure.