MEGA Cuts 20% of Staff After Rebrand and AI Pivot

MEGA, formerly operating as the MegaETH Foundation, has reduced its workforce by 20% following months of restructuring. The layoffs come just days after the project adopted its new name and committed $30 million from its treasury to develop new products, beginning with an AI inference market scheduled to launch in December.

According to co-founder Shuyao Kong, who disclosed the workforce reduction in a Nov. 13 X post, departing employees included staff who worked on the blockchain, wallet, ecosystem support, and communications from the project's earliest days. The announcement did not provide an exact headcount of affected workers or a departmental breakdown.

Core Engineering and Leadership Retained

Despite the layoffs, Kong stated that the company's founders, early employees, and core engineering team remain committed to the project and the work they began three years ago with MegaETH. Kong thanked departing colleagues and offered to help introduce them to prospective employers.

The organizational name change does not replace the underlying blockchain's name. MEGA's official website continues to list MegaETH as its blockchain division and describes MOSS as an account layer offering a single wallet across applications with programmable permissions for individuals and AI agents.

December AI Inference Market Plans

The foundation's recent rebrand accompanied a $30 million capital commitment to develop products on MegaETH. The upcoming December product centers on an AI inference market designed to make running trained AI models interchangeable across providers that users might otherwise find difficult to trust.

According to a white paper by Yilong Li and Lei Yang, the proposed approach aims to allow smaller suppliers to compete for customer demand by resolving transparency issues regarding model usage and data handling. Details concerning the marketplace's operation and available providers are being held until the official launch.

Key facts

• MEGA laid off 20% of its staff following months of restructuring.
• The workforce reduction follows the foundation's rebrand from MegaETH and a $30 million commitment to AI inference products.
• A December AI inference launch will introduce a market designed to make running trained models interchangeable across providers.
• Founders and the core engineering team remain with the company.
• The underlying blockchain retains the MegaETH name.