SNEAK PEAK:
- The “Affirm Crypto Program” will be discontinued according to the CEO.
- 19 percent of the workforce at Affirm was released in early February.
- The firm is taking decisive actions to reduce expenses.
The “Affirm Crypto Program” will be discontinued, according to Max Levchin, CEO of the buy-now-pay-later startup Affirm, who also announced the mass layoffs of about 500 staff. This is done as a safety measure against rising consumer expenditure and a shifting macroeconomic landscape.
On February 8, following the announcement of the 19% employee reduction, the CEO sent a letter to the company’s shareholders. He highlighted the necessity to offset certain liabilities on the company’s balance sheet and the unpredictable circumstances in the macroeconomic environment as the two primary factors for the decision:
In a period of increased economic uncertainty, we are doubling down on our core businesses, delaying projects with less certain revenue timelines, and aligning our operating expenses with revenue.” Concurrent with reducing our workforce, we are sunsetting several initiatives, such as Affirm Crypto.
The firm’s chief financial officer, Michael Linford, also adds that the firm has taken decisive actions to reduce expenses. According to him, they believe the cost base is now appropriately sized to meet profitability goals while still supporting the product roadmap and long-term growth ambitions.
It is essential to point out that the users were given the ability to configure the application in such a way that it would automatically convert any monthly interest that was accumulated in a savings account into BTC.
On the contrary, Affirm has announced that its cryptocurrency program will end on March 31 and will no longer be available, as stated on the company website:
On March 2, 2023, the ability to purchase bitcoin through the Affirm app will end. We will be discontinuing the Affirm cryptocurrency program on March 31, 2023.
In conclusion, according to Google Finance, the price of a share of Affirm’s stock, which is traded under the ticker symbol AFRM, has decreased by 6.91% at press time.