Eigen Labs Cuts 25% of Staff to Go All-In on EigenCloud – A Bold Move Toward Building “AWS On-Chain”
Eigen Labs has laid off 29 employees — around 25% of its workforce — as part of a strategic pivot to fully commit to EigenCloud, a decentralized cloud platform designed for verifiable off-chain computation. This move isn’t due to financial troubles but reflects a focused shift toward what the company sees as the next essential layer of the EigenLayer ecosystem.
Just weeks prior, EigenCloud secured an additional $70 million in funding from top-tier investors, bringing its total raise to $220 million. While EigenLayer’s Total Value Locked (TVL) has declined from its peak of $20B to roughly $11.7B, the intensified focus on EigenCloud signals long-term confidence in creating decentralized infrastructure that can manage data, computation, and dispute resolution — a vision aligned with the future of AI and Web3.
Historically, major tech firms like Amazon and Google also downsized during product pivots (e.g., launching AWS or shifting to cloud services), eventually leading to major innovation. Similarly, Eigen Labs is now making a calculated sacrifice: prioritizing long-term innovation and leadership in decentralized, verifiable computing over short-term stability.