Foundation Cuts 25% of Staff as ALGO Sinks 98% From High
The Algorand Foundation announced on March 18, 2026, that it was reducing its workforce by 25%, citing an uncertain global macroeconomic environment and the sustained downturn in crypto markets. The move reflects severe financial pressure on the layer-1 protocol, whose native token, ALGO, has struggled to maintain value. On the day of the announcement, ALGO was trading near $0.09, a drop of 5% for the day and roughly 19% year-to-date. This price point represents a staggering 98% collapse from its 2019 all-time high of $3.56, with the token last trading above $1.00 in January 2022.
In a statement, the foundation described the layoffs as an "incredibly tough decision" but necessary to create a "more sustainable alignment of Algorand Foundation resources with the protocol’s long-term business, technology, and ecosystem priorities." The organization did not disclose the specific number of employees affected by the workforce reduction.
Layoffs Follow US Relocation and 4.7% Transaction Growth
The timing of the cuts is particularly notable, coming just two months after the foundation relocated its headquarters back to the U.S. from Singapore. That move was framed as a strategic pivot to align more closely with institutional markets and a favorable regulatory backdrop, underpinning a 2026 strategy centered on tokenization, payments, and bringing traditional finance on-chain. The subsequent layoffs suggest this strategic shift is facing significant headwinds.
Despite the operational restructuring, Algorand's Q4 transparency report indicated some positive network activity, including a 4.7% quarterly increase in transactions. Real-world asset (RWA) values on the blockchain also reportedly grew 2.9% to $109 million in the same period. However, current data from analytics platform RWA.xyz places Algorand's RWA value at a lower $83 million, ranking it 19th among all blockchains and significantly behind leaders like Ethereum.
Algorand Joins Industry-Wide Contraction
Algorand's decision is not an isolated event but part of a broader trend of workforce reductions across the digital asset sector. In the preceding weeks, several other prominent crypto firms announced similar cuts. OP Labs, the developer behind the Ethereum layer-2 network Optimism, let go of 20 employees. PIP Labs, which develops Story Protocol, reduced its team by 10%. These moves followed larger layoffs at Gemini, which cut about 25% of its staff, and Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Block, which eliminated 4,000 jobs in February. This pattern indicates a sector-wide response to persistent market pressures and a strategic refocusing of resources.
