Blockchain.com to Pause Operations of Asset Management Arm

Blockchain.com suspends its subsidiary asset management arm which was launched in April

According to a Bloomberg report, crypto financial services company Blockchain.com is suspending operations of its asset management arm, citing the prolonged crypto winter as the reason for its decision. Reports say that Blockchain.com is to pause operations.

BCAM, or Blockchain.com Asset Management, was founded in April 2022 to attract institutional investors. Shortly after, the crypto industry hit a rough patch, with asset prices plummeting rapidly in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of crypto lender Celsius Network, and this trend continued with the demise of several other prominent crypto firms.

"Blockchain.com Asset Management debuted in April 2022, just as macroeconomic conditions began to deteriorate rapidly. "With crypto winter approaching its first anniversary, we made the business decision to halt operation of this institutional product," a spokesperson for the company told Bloomberg.

The Cayman Islands-based firm announced in January that it would lay off 28% of its workforce due to the challenges that the crypto ecosystem would face in 2022.

Blockchain.com did not respond immediately to CoinDesk's request for the comment.

Blockchain.com, which was founded in 2011, launched the new subsidiary shortly after raising its valuation from US $5.2 billion to US$14 billion in a funding round. In April, Standard Custody & Trust Company was named the new subsidiary's custody partner. According to a spokesperson for Bloomberg:

Several milestones were reached by Blockchain.com during the crypto winter. It was registered in several countries throughout 2022. In June, it also entered into a custody agreement with Anchorage Bank and other trading platforms, and in October, it partnered with Visa to issue a crypto card in the United States.

Nonetheless, Bloomberg reports that the company will lay off 260 workers in 2023. Rumors circulated in February that it was in talks with other cryptocurrency firms about selling some of its assets or subsidiaries. A Blockchain.com representative denied the rumors to Cointelegraph.