Ethereum scaling project MegaETH slashes staff by 20% as it pursues AI business
MEGA, the developer behind Ethereum scaling network MegaETH, has cut 20% of its staff as it prepares to launch an artificial intelligence marketplace in December.
The layoffs were announced Friday by co-founder Shuyao Kong, who didn't specify how many positions were eliminated. The cuts primarily affected staff working on blockchain, wallet and ecosystem development, while founders and core engineering team remain intact.
We realized that staying a chain-only company felt wrong and would have meant ignoring the biggest opportunity in front of us.
Declining blockchain activity
The restructuring comes as activity on MegaETH has significantly weakened. Total value locked in its decentralized finance ecosystem has plummeted to $8.8 million, down from a peak above $240 million, according to DeFiLlama data. The layer-2 network's token has also fallen by more than 70% this year.
AI marketplace launch
MEGA plans to launch a marketplace where customers can purchase access to AI models from competing providers. The company has committed $30 million from its treasury to build products on the network, starting with AI services. The marketplace launch is scheduled for December.
MegaLabs, the network's original developer, raised $20 million in 2024 in a round led by Dragonfly and backed by Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Last year, MegaETH raised $450 million in an oversubscribed token sale.
Kong confirmed that MEGA's new products will run on MegaETH, while the network aims to complete planned decentralization changes by the end of March 2027.
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