Chia Network Faces IPO Setback, Lays Off 26 Workers – Bear Market Woes Continue?

It appears that Chia Network, a blockchain-based distributed storage and robust seed company, has had to put its much-anticipated initial public offering (IPO) on hold due to the market downturn. The startup announced it had to cut its staff by 26 people as a result of the market conditions.

The market conditions have been increasingly difficult for startups like Chia, which is trying to break into a new type of blockchain-based technology. The bear market has seemingly cooled off the investor appetite for cryptocurrency-related IPOs, and Chia Network has been no exception. Chia isn’t the only blockchain company to have had to delay its IPO amid the coronavirus crisis and the recent market instability.

Despite these troublesome setbacks, it’s possible that the company will be able to go public in the near future. The company has been attempting to make its mark through its innovative agricultural-as-a-service model, which seeks to decentralize farm data and securely store it on the blockchain.

In the meantime, the layoffs are a significant blow to the Chia team. Chia Network was founded by two veterans of the blockchain industry – Bram Cohen, the creator of the popular BitTorrent file-sharing technology, and his colleague at BitTorrent, Ryan Cohen. It’s possible that their experiences in the space will be put to use helping the company weather the current downturn.