Bolt Financial last week laid off roughly 30% of its workforce, the fintech confirmed.
The move, which affects “less than 40 people,” comes amid a pivot to artificial intelligence.
“Going forward, Bolt will be operating as a much leaner organization and leveraging AI at our core,” the company’s founder and CEO, Ryan Breslow, told employees in a message posted on an internal Slack channel.
“Developing products and operating in 2026 is very different than it was in prior years, and we need to adapt as an organization to be leaner and more AI-centric than ever to keep [up] with competition,” he added, calling the decision “unavoidable.”
Bolt would hardly be the first financial services firm to cut a significant portion of its workforce recently in the face of burgeoning AI technology. Block CEO Jack Dorsey said in February his company would reduce headcount by roughly 40%, or 4,000 jobs, as it leans on AI for efficiencies.
Other business pivots have taken hold this year in the fintech sector. Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini said in February that it, too, would cut up to 200 employees, or 25% of its workforce, as it refocuses on the prediction market. In doing so, Gemini will wind down operations in the U.K., the European Union and Australia.
Bolt declined to disclose when the cuts would take effect. But they represent at least the fourth round of staff reductions at the company in as many years.
In May 2022, the company cut about 250 employees, or 30% of its workforce, over what it called restructuring challenges.
Bolt laid off another 10% in January 2023, and a further 29% – at the time, more than 100 people – in December of that year.
2022 also, incidentally, marked the year in which Breslow, who had run Bolt since 2013, left the CEO role. He returned in March 2025. But in the intervening years, the company shed roughly 97% of its value. A January 2022 Series E funding round raised $355 million, bringing Bolt’s total valuation to around $11 billion.
That figure dropped to as low as $300 million during secondary stock sales in 2024, according to Business Chief. Bolt tried to raise another $450 million that year in connection with Breslow's return as CEO, The Information reported. But the funding round was held up amid legal challenges, according to Forbes.
Bolt “learned a lot through the last three years of what doesn't work,” Breslow announced amid his return to the chief executive role, according to Business Chief.
From a business standpoint, Bolt – which describes itself as a checkout, identity and payments platform – sought to launch a super-app in April 2025, encompassing digital banking, crypto trading and peer-to-peer payment tools.
Jason Mikula of Fintech Business Weekly first reported last week’s Bolt layoffs.
