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The Ethereum Foundation exposed 100 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK)‑linked IT workers embedded across roughly 53 crypto projects.
The North Korean secret crypto-agents don’t rest, so the Ethereum Foundation decided it was time they put on the detective’s hat to track them before they too fell victims to them, just as Drift Protocol was at the beginning of the month. And so, yesterday afternoon the Foundation announced on an official blog post the starking results yielded by the ETH Rangers Program (and yes, everything related to North Korean hackers inevitably sounds straight out of an RPG or action movie).
The ETH Rangers Program has wrapped up and the results speak for themselves: $5.8M+ recovered, 785+ vulnerabilities reported, 100+ DPRK operatives identified, and so much more.
A decentralized defence for a decentralized network.
Read the full recap
— EF Ecosystem Support Program (@EF_ESP) April 16, 2026
According to the blog post, the Ethereum Foundation teamed up with Secureum, The Red Guild, and Security Alliance (SEAL) in late 2024 to roll out said program. The initiative offered stipends to people carrying out public‑goods security work across the Ethereum ecosystem.
Related Reading: Blockchain Is South Korea’s New Fiscal Weapon — A Blow To Privacy?
The program’s mission consisted in backing independent security initiatives that strengthen Ethereum’s overall robustness, while spotlighting and rewarding contributors with a proven history of delivering high‑impact security work for the broader network.
After six months, the results of the program speak for itself.
The ETH Rangers Program funded multiple crypto-security projects, but the Ketman Project was the one “focused on discovering and expelling North Korean (DPRK) IT workers who have infiltrated blockchain projects under fake identities”, per the blog post.
Over the six months of the investigation, they contacted roughly 53 different projects and uncovered around 100 DPRK IT operatives embedded inside Web3 organizations.
Their findings were shared in a series of detailed reports on ketman.org, which drew more than 3,300 active users and 6,200 page views, and explored themes such as account‑takeover techniques, the infiltration of freelance platforms, and emerging DPRK‑Russia ties. They also built and open‑sourced gh‑fake‑analyzer, a GitHub profile analysis tool designed to flag suspicious activity patterns, which is now available via PyPI.
In addition, they co‑authored the DPRK IT Workers Framework with SEAL, a document that has quickly become a go‑to reference for the industry, and supplied crucial data to the Lazarus.group threat‑intel project, with their work highlighted in a presentation at DEF CON.
The work produced by the 17 stipend recipients cover everything from vulnerability research and security tooling to education, threat intelligence, and hands‑on incident response.
According to the Ethereum Foundation, more than $5.8 million in funds have been recovered or frozen, while over 785 vulnerabilities, client bugs, and proof‑of‑concept exploits have been reported or documented. The Program has also helped identify around 100 DPRK state‑sponsored operatives embedded across multiple teams, and its threat‑intelligence and investigative content has reached over 209,000 viewers and users.
On the builder side, more than 800 teams have taken part in sponsored security challenges and investigations, supported by over 80 workshops, talks, and technical or educational resources. The initiative has coordinated responses to more than 36 security incidents and driven the creation or improvement of at least seven open‑source tooling repositories, frameworks, and implementations that further harden the ecosystem.
The DPRK-linked hacks continue to be a serious issue amongst the crypto community. Recently, key actors have been less lenient and more active in trying to uncover and stop their threat.
Let’s remember that, following the the attribution of the April 1st $285 million attack on Drift Protocol to UNC4736, a North Korea–aligned, state‑sponsored hacking group, crypto detective ZachXBT uncovered an internal North Korean payment server tied to 390+ accounts, chat logs, and transaction histories.
A few weeks ago, some crypto builders confessed on the social network X that they are passing tests during interviews to developers to make sure they are not North Korean agents.
Investing in visible, transparent security collaborations (like EF’s backing of ETH Rangers/Ketman/SEAL) may deserve a premium in risk models, while protocols with opaque teams and loose hiring are increasingly “headline risk” candidates.
At the moment of writing, ETH trades for around $2,300 on the daily chart. Source: ETHUSD on Tradingview.
Cover image from Perplexity. ETHUSD chart from Tradingview.
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Consensys, a pioneering force in blockchain technology and a primary supporter of the Ethereum network, recently announced a reduction of 20% in its workforce.
Affected employees will receive severance packages, extended healthcare benefits, and outplacement services to support their transition.
The decision stems from a combination of challenging macroeconomic conditions and increasing regulatory pressure in the cryptocurrency sector, with Consensys’ leadership pointing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “abuse of power” as a significant factor.
In a recent blog post, founder and CEO Joe Lubin expressed frustration over the financial and operational strains imposed by ongoing regulatory actions.
Lubin said, “Multiple cases with the SEC, including ours, represent meaningful jobs and productive investment lost due to the SEC’s abuse of power and Congress’s inability to rectify the problem.” He added that such actions from the government will cost crypto companies millions in legal fees and lost business opportunities, stifling innovation in a sector that is on the cusp of mainstream adoption.
The legal battles between Consensys and the SEC primarily focus on the regulator’s claims that Consensys has been operating as an unregistered broker, particularly through its MetaMask services.
According to the SEC, the company’s operations could involve the offer and sale of securities, which would require formal registration.
The dispute has escalated with Consensys filing a countersuit against the SEC, alleging regulatory overreach. The company argues that the SEC’s aggressive stance is a “power grab” over Ethereum, designed to exert more control over decentralized financial products.
This stance aligns Consensys with several other crypto companies, including Coinbase and Grayscale, that have also resisted SEC enforcement, signalling a larger industry pushback against unclear regulations.
Despite these challenges, Consensys maintains a strong market position, continuing to focus on Ethereum-based products like MetaMask and Infura, which have become essential tools within the blockchain ecosystem.
To navigate this uncertain landscape, the company is taking steps to streamline its operations, positioning itself for agility and long-term sustainability in an evolving, often volatile industry.
Looking forward, Consensys aims to enhance decentralization within its own structure. By progressively transforming its products into protocols, Consensys envisions itself evolving from a centralized company to a “Network State,” with tools like MetaMask anchoring this new direction. This shift could enable a more decentralized, web3-native future, where small, agile companies lead the economy and foster innovation.
Through these structural changes, Consensys seeks to uphold its commitment to Ethereum’s mission while adapting to an ever-changing regulatory and economic environment.
Matter Labs, the company behind the Ethereum scaling network ZKsync, has announced the layoff of over 16% of its workforce, affecting 24 employees.
The announcement, made on September 3, 2024, by Matter Labs’ co-founder and CEO Alex Gluchowski, marks a significant shift for the company as it navigates the increasingly competitive landscape of Ethereum layer-2 scaling solutions.
The layoffs come as Matter Labs re-evaluates its strategy in the face of changing market conditions and evolving business needs. It follows a large organizational planning exercise that revealed a mismatch between the company’s current talent and the needs of its future strategy.
According to Gluchowski, the decision to downsize was “the hardest change” he’s had to implement in the company’s six-year history.
In the layoff announcement, Gluchowski explained that the affected employees were notified of their termination and emphasized that the decision was not performance-related. He highlighted the necessity of aligning the company’s resources with its new strategic goals.
Despite the layoffs, Matter Labs is currently hiring for key roles in engineering, business development, and operations, underscoring its ongoing commitment to innovation and growth despite the reduction in staff.
The layoffs are part of a broader strategic pivot for Matter Labs.
In June 2024, the company introduced the Elastic Chain, a new solution aimed at enhancing interoperability for the growing number of teams building custom chains on ZKsync. This launch has prompted Matter Labs to reconsider its positioning in the highly competitive Ethereum layer-2 ecosystem, which includes other major players like Coinbase’s Base, Polygon, Arbitrum, and Optimism.
Gluchowski indicated that Matter Labs might be moving away from its initial focus as a general-purpose Ethereum scaler. Instead, the company is exploring more niche and case-specific applications of its technology, a move designed to better meet the needs of its users and stay competitive in the crowded market.
As Matter Labs adjusts its course, the company’s commitment to innovation remains strong. The layoffs, while difficult, are a step towards aligning its workforce and resources with its evolving strategy in the Ethereum scaling space.
Roku said that the company’s decision of lay-offs come as it plans to cutdown on expenses and eventually focus on growth.
In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, September 6, streaming giant Roku Inc (NASDAQ: ROKU) stated that it would lay off 10% of its workforce which is nearly 360 people. The development comes as the streaming software company looks to cut down on its expenses.
Roku said that the cost-cutting measures aim to bring down the company’s year-over-year operating expense growth rate. The company also stated that it anticipates adjusted third-quarter revenue to fall within the range of $835 million to $875 million, marking an increase from its previous projection of $815 million. Furthermore, Roku has adjusted its third-quarter guidance for adjusted EBITDA, revising it to a range of negative $40 million to negative $20 million, as opposed to the previous estimate of negative $50 million.
Following the development on Wednesday, and with positive Q3 guidance, the ROKU share price surged by 3% closing in on $86.19 yesterday. Since the beginning of 2023, the ROKU stock price is already up by more than 112% making it one of the top-performing stocks on Nasdaq.
Besides, the streaming company also reported a stellar set of numbers during the second quarter. Roku reported an 11% increase in revenue, reaching $847.2 million, surpassing the analysts’ forecast of $774.5 million as per FactSet. The company also posted a loss of 76 cents per share, which was better than the anticipated $1.26 per share by analysts. This Q2 loss is an improvement from the 82 cents per share loss reported in the same period in 2022.
Roku has now exceeded 73 million active accounts, marking a growth of over 16% compared to the 63.1 million accounts recorded a year ago.
Roku is implementing a series of cost-saving measures, including layoffs, to streamline its operations. These actions involve consolidating office spaces, slowing down new hiring, and reducing external service expenses. In the third quarter, Roku anticipates incurring impairment and restructuring charges of up to $330 million. This includes an estimated $160 million to $200 million associated with office facilities and $45 million to $65 million linked to job reductions.
Additionally, Roku expects to record an impairment charge of $55 million to $65 million related to the removal of certain licensed and produced content on its TV streaming platform, as part of a broader “strategic review of its content portfolio.” The layoffs are projected to be largely completed by the end of the fiscal fourth quarter. As of December 2022, Roku had 3,600 full-time employees, according to FactSet.
These workforce reductions mark Roku’s third round of layoffs in the past year, reflecting its shift toward cost-saving measures after a period of significant investment. Previously, the company had cut approximately 200 employees in March and another 200 employees in November.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
Grubhub said that it would offer employees a severance package for 16 weeks but refused to comment on the specific positions removed.
In a message to employees on Monday, June 12, food delivery platform Grubhub stated that it plans to lay off 400 employees i.e. 15% of its corporate workforce. The company cited the reason for maintaining “competitiveness” in the current macro environment.
Also, in comparison to other market players such as Uber Eats and DoorDash, Grubhub has failed to capture the market share. The company said that it would offer employees a severance package for 16 weeks. However, Grubhub refused to comment on the specific groups or positions affected. In his memo, Grubhub CEO Howard Migdal said:
“There is no doubt whatsoever that we have a solid foundation in place and an immense opportunity ahead of us – but it is also clear that we need to make some tough decisions in order to maintain our competitiveness, deliver the best possible service for diners and our other partners, and be successful for the long-term.”
Back in 2021, Dutch multinational Just Eat Takeaway.com acquired Grubhub in an all-stock transaction at a valuation of $7.3 billion. However, it turns out that less than a year after the sale, Just Eat Takeaway said that it has been exploring the “partial or full sale” of Grubhub.
The Grubhub spokesperson hasn’t responded to whether the workforce layoffs are connected to a potential sale process.
Around 400 people are being impacted by job cuts, highlighting the increasing troubles faced by the Chicago-based company. Grubhub, which includes subsidiaries like Seamless and Eat24, has been struggling despite the ongoing demand for takeout. Even though the pandemic boom has subsided, Grubhub has been unable to gain traction.
As of April, Grubhub and its subsidiaries accounted for only 9% of consumer spending on meal delivery in the US, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. Grubhub CEO Howard Migdal said that the company will continue to focus on future business priorities. He added:
“While our business has grown since our 2019 pre-pandemic levels, our operating and staff costs have increased at a higher rate. These changes, while difficult, will help ensure we have the right resources and structure to focus on the business priorities and opportunities ahead.”
The food delivery space is turning more competitive with every passing day, and it will be important to see how Grubhub manages to navigate through these times.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
Accenture said that amid the overall inflationary environment and rising interest rates, there’s a drop in the levels of business confidence among its clients.
On Thursday, March 23, tech consulting giant Accenture (NYSE: ACN) announced that it is planning to cut 2.5% of its workforce, or 19,000 jobs worldwide. The company said that the decision comes in the wake of uncertain global economic conditions as it also trims down its yearly revenue outlook.
The company on Thursday said that more than half of the job cuts will be in its non-billable corporate functions. This led to a surge in the ACN stock which jumped by 7.26% by the end of Thursday’s trading session.
The high inflationary environment and rising interest rates have been a spoiler for the tech sector which has laid off hundreds of employees over the last year due to the downturn in demand. Accenture is now expecting the annual revenue growth to be between 8-10% while the previous projection was for 8-11%.
At the same time, the earnings per share are likely to be in the range of $10.84 to $11.06 in comparison to the previous expectations of $11.20 to $11.52. Through the fiscal 2023 and 2024, the company is expecting to incur $1.2 billion in severance costs.
Commenting on the attrition in its press release, Accenture explains: “For the second quarter of fiscal 2023, attrition, excluding involuntary terminations, was 12%, down from 18% in the second quarter of fiscal 2022″. The company added:
“Our results of operations are affected by economic conditions, including macroeconomic conditions, the overall inflationary environment and levels of business confidence. There continues to be significant economic and geopolitical uncertainty in many markets around the world, which has impacted and may continue to impact our business, particularly with regard to wage inflation and volatility in foreign currency exchange rates”.
Speaking on the development, Chief Executive Julie Sweet said:
“Companies remain focused on executing compressed transformations”.
The recent macro environment has not only impacted Accenture but companies across the tech sector. Last month, Accenture rival Cognizant Technology Solutions pointed out at the “muted” growth in bookings, and other deals in the pipeline.
India’s Top IT services firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) also flagged weakness in Europe where client spending has dropped amid the war in Ukraine. US-based Enterprise Technology Research has recently conducted a survey of more than 1,000 IT decision-makers. The growth expectations have now dropped to 3.4% from the 5.6% last year in October 2022. Erik Bradley, chief engagement strategist at the technology market research firm said that “the data indicates a very difficult environment ahead for consulting firms”.
Bhushan is a FinTech enthusiast and holds a good flair in understanding financial markets. His interest in economics and finance draw his attention towards the new emerging Blockchain Technology and Cryptocurrency markets. He is continuously in a learning process and keeps himself motivated by sharing his acquired knowledge. In free time he reads thriller fictions novels and sometimes explore his culinary skills.
The software company said it would contact impacted workers, and affected teams would receive clarity on organizational changes.
In the wake of tech companies cutting expenses, software company Salesforce Inc (NYSE: CRM) has revealed plans to cut 10% of its workforce. The cloud-based company also intends to shut down some offices in specific locations in addition to firing thousands of staff. In a letter to employees, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff referred to the challenging environment as the reason to dismiss the workers over the coming weeks. The impacted employees are more than 7,000. The CEO added that Salesforce “hired too many people” during the pandemic, which has led to the company’s economic downturn.
As of February 2022, Salesforce said it had more than 79,000 workers globally, representing a 30% growth since the same time in 2022. Salesforce was one of the many tech companies that benefited from the coronavirus pandemic. The company’s revenue spiked as the world was forced to stay home and rely heavily on technology to connect with other people remotely.
The software company said it would contact impacted workers, and affected teams would receive clarity on organizational changes. Also, the workforce cut will result in around $1.4 billion to $2.1 billion in charges, while only about $800 million to $1 billion will be recorded in Q4. According to the CEO, the dismissed staff will receive full support from the team, including “a generous package.”
“In the US, affected employees will receive a minimum of nearly five months of pay, health insurance, career resources, and other benefits to help with their transition. Those outside the US will receive a similar level of support, and our local processes will align with employment laws in each country.”
Salesforce announcing a workforce cut four days into the new year indicates the economic headwinds companies have been warning about. Technology giants like Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) fired thousands of workers last year ahead of a possible recession. Investors are already wary of more bad times for the economy due to central banks’ continued interest rate hikes to control inflation. At the same time, many companies that resorted to cloud services amid the stay-home period are beginning to reduce expenses, affecting the likes of Salesforce and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT).
Wedbush analysts Dan Ives wrote about the workforce reduction at Salesforce. The analysts said the cloud-based company “clearly is seeing headwinds in the field and thus is trying to quickly adjust to a softening demand environment.”
In addition to growing more than 5% in the last five days, Salesforce stock also jumped 7.27% over the past month. At press time, CRM is down 0.03% to $139.55.
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Apart from writing, she likes to see movies, cook, and explore restaurants in the city of Lagos, where she resides.
The Chinese smartphone giant started to let go of some of its staff due to lower sales amid the lockdowns in China.
While many companies are gradually rebounding from the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic, others like China Xiaomi are still battling with the COVID impact as it plans to lay off 10% of its workforce. According to the South China Morning Post, the smartphone maker has started firing employees across multiple departments, including its smartphone and internet services units.
Speaking on the cut, a spokesperson said Xiaomi is conducting a “routine personnel optimization and organizational streamlining” due to COVID with “less than 10 percent of the total workforce” affected. The company revealed in its Q3 financial results that it had 35,314 employees, with over 32,000 in mainland China. Notably, Chinese companies often conduct layoffs in the name of “business optimization.” This is done to avoid scrutiny from labor authorities because employee dismissals that affect over 20 jobs must be referred to the government under China’s labor law. Xiaomi stated that victims of the layoff had been compensated in compliance with local regulators. A report said the laid-off workers got redundancy packages from the company.
The Chinese smartphone giant started to let go of some of its staff due to lower sales amid the lockdowns in China. Slower consumer spending also contributed to the jobs cut. Notably, most of the people that would be impacted during the layoff were just recruited in December last year. Major social media platforms in China, including Weibo, Maimai, and Xiaohongshu, have been buzzing with posts about the dismissal. Discussions on the platforms show that many are beginning to get concerned about the future of the tech industry in China. This is because other top tech companies in China, such as Alibaba Group (NYSE: BABA) and Tencent Holdings, have also been laying off workers amid the prolonged Covid-19 battle in the country.
Xiaomi made the move to reduce headcount shortly after its founder unveiled the new flagship 13-series smartphones. The company, which plans to unseat the iPhone from the global top position by 2024, revealed that the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset powers the new smartphones. This came as the Chinese economy struggled in the consumer electronics market. As a matter of fact, global smartphone shipments dropped 9% YoY to 297.8 million units. Market research firm Canalys confirmed that smartphone shipments in China declined 11% to 70 million units. As for Xiaomi, the 5th largest smartphone seller in China with a 13% market share as of last quarter, the company’s revenue shed 9.7% YoY to 70.47 billion yuan. Its net profit also reduced by 59.1% to 2.21 billion yuan during the same period.
Ibukun is a crypto/finance writer interested in passing relevant information, using non-complex words to reach all kinds of audience.
Apart from writing, she likes to see movies, cook, and explore restaurants in the city of Lagos, where she resides.
In the email that confirmed the latest headcount reduction, the CEO wrote that it was difficult for the company to reach the decision.
Israel-based digital entertainment company Playtika is the latest company to receive the hit of the global economic meltdown as it plans a 15% layoff of its entire workforce. Many companies have dismissed significant percentages of their staff to cut back expenses and push through these challenging times. The dice have rolled again, and Playtika has confirmed the layoff of 610 employees of its 4,100 people of its workforce.
The company’s CEO and founder, Robert Antokol, confirmed the staff cut by email on Monday, confirming the rumors that made rounds last week. There was news in the past week that the company would let go of 12-15% of its people. Reports also showed that around 180 employees in the Israel headquarters would be victims of the dismissal. And the total number of people that would be bidding farewell to the gaming giant could be as high as 500. Meanwhile, the company fired 250 persons in May. Those affected belonged to the London, Montreal, and Los Angeles offices. As a result, it had to cancel the games that were scheduled to develop in those offices. On the other hand, some activities that were meant to take place in the location were transferred to the HQ in Israel.
In the email that confirmed the latest headcount reduction, Antokol wrote that it was difficult for the company to reach the decision. He added:
“This decision has not come easy, yet we think it necessary to best position Playtika for the future. As we assess the current environment and look toward the future, Playtika must return to our roots of excellence through agility, efficiency, creativity and being obsessed with winning to deliver the most fun forms of mobile entertainment to our players.”
Furthermore, the top executive noted that Playtike would balance teams and redeploy talent even as it executes the workforce layoff. The company also plans to lower “non-core initiatives and consolidating studios for greater efficiency and a stronger focus on optimization.” Additionally, the gaming giant said its creative team at Wooga would centralize the evaluation of its new game concepts.
Antikol and Uri Shahak co-founded Playtika in 2010 before Caesars Entertainment Corporation acquired it in May 2011. In July 2016, a Chinese consortium purchased the company’s operation for $4.4 billion. The Chinese consortium sold its 20% stake to Joffre Capital at an $8.5 billion valuation. However, the deal has been canceled.
Coinspeaker announced in January last year that Playtika would be going public in the US.
Ibukun is a crypto/finance writer interested in passing relevant information, using non-complex words to reach all kinds of audience.
Apart from writing, she likes to see movies, cook, and explore restaurants in the city of Lagos, where she resides.
