Hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger announced in a blog post on Oct. 5 that it will lay off a significant percentage of its staff while continuing operations.

The company’s CEO, Pascal Gauthier, wrote in a letter:

“Macroeconomic headwinds are limiting our ability to generate revenue, and in response to the current market conditions and business realities … we are making the difficult decision to reduce 12% of the roles at Ledger.”

Despite those shortcomings, Gauthier said that Ledger prepared for the “bear market” in early 2022 and saw some success in that regard. He claimed that Ledger was one of the few crypto companies to raise significant capital in the first two quarters of 2023.

Gauthier did not suggest that Ledger would reduce its activity. Instead, he said that the company remains the leader in its area and said that existing priorities are still in place.

Ledger will push forward with Recover

Gauthier also mentioned the upcoming launch of Ledger Recover, a feature that allows users to regain access to their wallet after losing key information. Ledger Recover attracted massive controversy in May 2023, as it requires data to be stored with third parties. While Ledger insists that this feature will be optional, critics complain that the hardware and firmware capabilities that support Recover are a risk in their own right.

Gauthier did not explicitly address the controversy in his current letter. However, he called Recover a “necessary service for the next wave of new users.”

Gauthier additionally said that Ledger’s retail business “has never been more exciting.” He reported increased usage, revenue, and transaction volumes for the mobile app Ledger Live. He also described higher distributions of Ledger Nano devices and drew attention to a recent Ledger model called Ledger Stax, which features an e-ink display.

Ledger initially distributed Gauthier’s letter to its employees. The company said that it posted the letter publicly on its blog for transparency reasons.