Anchorage Digital, the US digital asset bank that became the first crypto firm to secure a national trust charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in 2021, has reduced its workforce by 17 percent.
Chief executive Nathan McCauley informed staff of the reductions this week, according to people familiar with the internal discussions.
The company, which specializes in institutional crypto custody and also issues stablecoins, has not publicly confirmed the move and did not respond to inquiries seeking comment.
The cuts arrive against the backdrop of a prolonged downturn in digital asset markets that has now stretched across roughly a year.
Bitcoin has recovered some ground recently, rising about 9 percent over the past month to trade above $84,000, yet it remains well short of the record near $126,000 reached last October.
Trading volumes, custody balances, and related fee income across the industry have stayed under pressure, prompting several well-known platforms to trim expenses.
Coinbase disclosed a 14 percent staff reduction in May, and Robinhood announced a 10 percent cut in June.
Anchorage’s decision fits the same pattern of cost discipline even as the firm continues to operate its core banking and custody franchises.
Based on McCauley’s congressional testimony last February, Anchorage employed roughly 400 people worldwide at that time.
A 17 percent reduction applied to that headcount would affect on the order of 68 roles, though the company has not released an updated employee total or specified which teams or locations are most affected.
The firm maintains offices that include operations tied to New York and Singapore alongside its US banking entity.
No public statement has linked the layoffs to the loss of a particular client, a regulatory sanction, or the failure of a specific product line.
Secondary accounts of the episode have framed the move as a response to sector-wide cost pressures rather than an isolated setback.
The timing is notable because Anchorage entered 2026 with fresh capital and an elevated private valuation.
Earlier this year Tether made a $100 million strategic investment that valued the company at approximately $4.2 billion.
Anchorage has also expanded its role in regulated stablecoin issuance, including involvement with Tether’s US dollar stablecoin USAT and Western Union’s USDPT.
Those initiatives were widely viewed as steps toward a possible public listing, a path several market observers had listed among the more plausible crypto IPO candidates.
The national trust charter obtained in 2021 positioned Anchorage as a regulated custodian at a moment when few competitors held comparable federal banking authority.
Under the current administration, additional firms including Circle, Coinbase, and BitGo have since received similar charters, increasing competition in the institutional custody segment.
Anchorage has executed sizable reductions before.
In March 2023 it eliminated roughly 75 positions, then described as about 20 percent of staff, during an earlier period of market stress that coincided with the failures of several crypto-linked banks.
Company officials at the time said those cuts reflected broader industry conditions rather than direct exposure to the bank collapses.
The latest round therefore marks a second significant restructuring within a little more than three years. Whether or not the present reduction actually signals a temporary pause or a longer adjustment remains unclear.
Anchorage continues to offer custody, settlement, and stablecoin-related services, and the recent Tether capital injection provides a balance-sheet cushion.
Still, the episode underscores how even federally chartered digital-asset banks remain exposed to the revenue volatility of crypto markets.
Clients and counterparties will likely watch for any follow-on changes to service levels, product roadmaps, or further headcount actions as the industry waits for a more sustained recovery in prices and activity.