It appears blockchain analytics company Chainalysis is still thawing the effects of the crypto winter, cutting about 150 employees, or slightly over 15% of its 900 staff, Forbes reported on Oct. 2.

The move follows an attempt by the company to retreat from the commercial market and concentrate on more stable government contracts, the report said, citing an email from Chainalysis CEO Michael Gronager to employees.

The latest layoffs come on the heels of the firm’s job cuts earlier this year, which axed about 44, or 4.8%, of its total workforce amid declining product demands due to last year’s crypto market decline.

“This reorganization reflects our ongoing strategic shifts to balance our growth aspirations,” said Madeleine Kennedy, vice president of communications at Chainalysis. “We are going to focus on profitability and maturity and to ensure that we are agile in light of evolving market forces.”

A spokesperson for the company confirmed to Cointelegraph that the information viewed by Forbes is accurate.

According to Forbes, the company plans to cut costs by reducing marketing and business development teams focused on the private sector, whose jobs became difficult due to the bear market.

The ongoing bear market cycle has resulted in diminishing crypto trading revenue and blockchain activity, reducing the need for Chainalysis products that aid crypto exchanges and other firms in identifying illicit transactions and maintaining regulatory compliance.

The report added that the firm had reduced its growth expectations for the rest of the year after growing 50% from mid-2022 to mid-2023 but has enough funds to make it through the bear market.

With Chainalysis stepping back from private contracts, it will now focus on servicing the needs of governments.

“The public sector still has a lot of way to go in creating a safe and regulated environment,” says Kennedy. “In addition to anti-money laundering regulations, there’s still lots of other regulatory issues like prudential soundness, market conduct, and consumer protection that need to be addressed.”

Layoffs during a bear market are nothing unheard of, with several leading crypto and blockchain companies failing to avoid sacking some of their staff. In January, at least 2,900 staffers were reportedly cut loose across 14 companies in their attempts to tighten their purse strings.

Chainalysis, with open-source software laboratory Protocol Labs and crypto exchange Bittrex, announced job cuts in February.

In September, Binance.US let go of a third of its staff amid intensifying regulatory pressure, while venture-backed blockchain firm R3 axed a fifth of its employees last month.