Zap Africa, a Nigerian cryptocurrency startup, reduce 44% of its workforce in February 2026, reducing workers throughout its design, operations, advertising, and assist groups as the corporate pivots to a leaner, automation-driven mannequin.
The Lagos-based firm, based in 2023, mentioned the layoffs have been a part of a broader restructuring geared toward aligning working prices with revenue-generating actions.
The job cuts started in December 2025, with not less than 5 roles eradicated earlier than the newest layoffs in February, which affected eight roles, in line with former staff. The startup says it doesn’t plan additional layoffs.
“Zap Africa carried out a restricted restructuring affecting a couple of roles. This was not a company-wide layoff,” co-founder and Chief Expertise Officer (CTO), Moore Dagogo Hart, instructed TechCabal in an electronic mail on Tuesday.
“Zap Africa deliberately moved from 18 to 10 as a part of an AI-driven effectivity shift,” he added. “What occurred was a focused inside restructuring as a part of our ongoing effort to enhance operational effectivity and align the workforce with our present product and development priorities.”
The layoffs lay naked the tensions going through younger crypto startups in a down market: easy methods to keep lean sufficient to outlive a protracted bear cycle with out gutting the workforce that was speculated to drive development. For the two-year-old Zap Africa, the restructuring is each a survival transfer and a check of whether or not leaner may also imply stronger.
The reduce comes as the worldwide crypto market endures a protracted bear cycle that has pressured startups to chop prices or change course. In downturns, crypto firms usually shift from aggressive development to capital preservation to outlive till market circumstances enhance. In the course of the 2022 downturn, Quidax, a Nigerian crypto startup, laid off 20% of its workers to grow to be extra capital-efficient and prolong its runway.
As crypto costs fell from 2024 highs, over-the-counter (OTC) transactions—giant trades executed outdoors the general public order e book—turned a extra vital income driver for Zap Africa, filling the hole left by the decline in in-app exercise.
Zap Africa didn’t touch upon its present income efficiency, working prices, or the relative contribution of OTC versus retail transactions.
On the centre of the job cuts is Martha AI, a product developed by Dagogo-Hart’s different firm, Cognito Programs, an AI-powered software program startup. The software has been built-in into Zap Africa’s buyer assist workflow to deal with first-line buyer enquiries, in line with a former worker who spoke on situation of anonymity for concern of reprisals.
“They [Zap Africa] carried out it to a level,” the previous worker mentioned. “As a substitute of shoppers beginning with a human agent or ready for one, they [Zap Africa] have been making an attempt to make use of the AI software to do this.”
The automation push made some roles redundant, in line with two former staff affected by the restructuring.
Dagogo Hart mentioned solely non-core design, operations, and assist groups have been affected. The startup will proceed working with 10 staff throughout product, engineering, finance, authorized, operations, and development.
“Affected staff have been supplied with severance assist consistent with their tenure and contractual phrases,” mentioned Dagogo Hart. “There have been no pauses to our core merchandise. Improvement of our pockets and [crypto] trade continues as deliberate. Zap Africa stays operationally steady, with adequate capital and income to proceed executing our roadmap.”
Income pressures, market volatility, and operational pressure
The restructuring comes at a fragile level in Zap Africa’s development trajectory. Launched in 2023 as a retail crypto buying and selling platform, the startup raised $300,000 in pre-seed funding the next 12 months to broaden product improvement.
In a 2025 interview with Techpoint Africa, Dagogo-Hart mentioned the startup had processed over $17 million in crypto transactions and generated as much as $100,000 in month-to-month income. “Weekly transactions on the platform at present common round $500,000, which permits the corporate to achieve its $100,000 month-to-month income goal,” he added.
At that tempo, $500,000 in weekly transactions implies roughly $2 million in month-to-month buying and selling quantity in 2025. With $100,000 in reported month-to-month income, that means an implied take fee of about 5%, practically double the trade normal common.
In latest months, retail exercise has slowed on Zap, former staff instructed TechCabal, as crypto markets have shed roughly $2 trillion in worth since October 2025.
“Individuals who would usually have the forex they wish to commerce over-the-counter, or in-app, are not coming to commerce,” mentioned the worker acquainted with Zap’s product operations.
Operational points additionally compounded the stress, in line with two former staff, who didn’t wish to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.
They cited a Might 2024 incident involving a double-counted buyer deposit that was later refunded and a February 2025 case involving a fraudulent crypto switch that resulted in a $5,000 loss.
Zap Africa didn’t reply to a request for touch upon these particular incidents.
Whereas such incidents usually are not unusual in fast-moving crypto startups, they spotlight the operational dangers inherent in managing digital asset platforms, notably in low-trust and extremely unstable markets.
The startup’s monetary and operational tightening follows a interval of heightened public visibility. In 2025, Zap Africa was concerned in a trademark dispute with Paystack, the Stripe-owned Nigerian fintech, over using the identify “Zap” for a client product. The dispute generated vital social media consideration and boosted model consciousness for the crypto startup.
Shortly afterwards, Zap ramped up its public profile, internet hosting Builders Summit—a startup neighborhood occasion organised by Founders Join—and growing media appearances. The distinction between outward momentum and inside pressure turned extra obvious with time.
In cyclical sectors like crypto, the place income is straight tied to buying and selling exercise, downturns usually expose structural price pressures. For startups working with restricted capital, automation and workforce reductions can grow to be instruments for survival.
Zap Africa says it stays steady and targeted on constructing non-custodial monetary infrastructure. Nonetheless, the February restructuring marks a turning level for a younger startup nonetheless balancing ambition with monetary sustainability in a high-risk sector.
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