MEGA, the organization behind Ethereum Layer 2 network MegaETH, has reduced its workforce by 20% as it prepares to expand beyond blockchain infrastructure and develop artificial intelligence products. Co-founder Shuyao Kong announced the restructuring on November 13, confirming that employees involved in the blockchain, wallet, and ecosystem teams were affected.
The company did not disclose the exact number of positions eliminated but stated that its founders, early employees, and core engineering team remain committed to the project.
Strategic Shift Away from Blockchain Infrastructure
Kong explained that the organization had spent several months reviewing its structure and strategic direction before deciding to reduce its workforce. The team determined it no longer wanted to operate exclusively as a blockchain infrastructure company, citing a significant opportunity in artificial intelligence.
The restructuring reflects MEGA's intention to build products directly on its network rather than focus solely on providing underlying technology for other applications. The MegaETH Foundation rebranded as MEGA and committed $30 million from its treasury toward developing products on the network, though the company has not disclosed how the funding will be distributed across planned products.
AI Marketplace Scheduled for December
MEGA's first planned product is an AI inference marketplace that will allow customers to access services from competing AI model providers. AI inference refers to the process through which trained artificial intelligence models generate responses, predictions, or other outputs based on user requests.
According to the project's white paper, the platform could introduce mechanisms allowing users to verify which models providers are actually using and reserve computing capacity at agreed prices. However, MEGA has not confirmed which capabilities will be available at launch or identified the providers and models expected to participate.
Network Activity Declines Amid Strategic Transition
The strategic shift comes as activity across MegaETH's decentralized finance ecosystem has declined considerably. Data from DeFiLlama showed that the network's total value locked had fallen to approximately $8.8 million, down from a peak exceeding $245 million.
The MEGA token has also struggled, losing more than 70% of its value this year. Originally developed as an Ethereum scaling solution focused on making blockchain applications faster, MegaETH is now seeking additional use cases through AI-related services.
Path Forward and Planned Developments
MEGA has indicated that its new products will operate on MegaETH, while the network continues working toward planned decentralization changes expected by the end of March 2027. The company hopes that building products on its own infrastructure will create new demand for the network and expand its role beyond decentralized finance.
The success of this approach will depend on whether the planned marketplace can attract customers, AI providers, and sufficient computing resources. The upcoming marketplace launch represents a significant milestone that could help establish a new source of activity for the network.
