cryptovest.com
ConsenSys, the chief producer hub for Ethereum-related products such as Infura and MetaMask, is considering a deeper restructuring, spinning off side projects and letting go of up to 60% of the teams, The Verge reported, citing inside sources.
ConsenSys does not have the classical structure of a corporation, opting instead to fund a series of teams and projects called “spokes,” and some of them may be spun off under the restructuring plan. The company previously stated it would reduce staff numbers for some of the spokes, especially the less important ones, cutting its workforce by 13%. So far, the incubator has not provided details on its social media as to which projects would be affected.
News of the alleged restructuring arrived despite the tentative recovery in Ethereum (ETH) prices, which inched up to $116.26. However, this is still around 90% below record levels. ETH peaked at $1432.88 on January 13, 2018, going since then on a prolonged slide. The Ethereum ecosystem also lost some of its positions as tokens ran into legal trouble, funding from initial coin offerings dwindled, and Ethereum mining abated.
ConsenSys has shortened its runway for the projects due to lower ETH prices. It must be noted that the spokes are projects under incubation, not centrally chosen areas of developments. ConsenSys works as an incubator and a funding mechanism, which is why its model is relatively risky.
At the same time, demand for blockchain developers keeps growing and is up about 400% this year. Career opportunities for such professionals will continue to multiply, according to smart contracts marketplace Modex.
The Ethereum community remains bearish about market prices, but there is also talk of continued product creation. Ethereum expects its Casper update to materialize in 2019, but sharding as a scaling solution is probably as far as 2020. Until then, the project will still rely on mining with lower rewards.