Rumors of an eBay NFT Scaleback and C-Suite Departure

This time last year, eBay was hiring to bolster its Web3 team to support its NFT marketplace in the UK called KnownOrigin, according to CoinDesk. One year later, KnownOrigin employees were part of eBay’s mass layoffs that saw a 9% reduction of its total workforce.

eBay laid off as many as 30% of its Web3 team, according to NFTgators which cited a source close to company who indicated “the relationship between eBay and KnownOrigin has allegedly soured.”

We confirmed that at least a handful of KnownOrigin employees in Manchester, England working in marketing and tech positions posted on LinkedIn in January they were looking for new positions because of the layoffs (or redundancies, as they’re called in the UK). “After a whirlwind year at KnownOrigin x eBay my time has sadly come to an end due to restructuring and redundancies across the business,” wrote one now former employee.

An eBay Senior Marketing Manager who worked on blending traditional collectibles with emerging Web3 displays his position at eBay as having ended in January. (NFTs represent a unique digital item, see more in this 2021 EcommerceBytes news article.)

One employee who remains at Known Origin, Ray Mosley, spoke at an event at Apadmi headquarters in Manchester right around the time of the layoff announcement last month. Mosley, Known Origin’s head of design, was described as an advocate for blockchain and AI, but he had some words of warning for attendees at the panel that was titled, “Future proofing your tech strategy in 2024.”

“”Blockchain does well what others don’t, things like being able to transact from one country to another and borderless payment rails – trust is built in as it’s secure and decentralised,” he was quoted in the session write-up on Apadmi.com. “However Ray acknowledged the current issues with the technology. “There are lots of challenges including regulation and scalability, it’s not quite there yet, so it is still worth taking caution when experimenting with this kind of tech.””

eBay acquired KnownOrigin in 2022 when NFTs were still hot, but it did not disclose the price.

NFTgators’ source also told the publication that Stefanie Jay had resigned. Jay, who followed Jamie Iannone to eBay from Walmart, was hired in 2021 to lead Strategy, Business Operations, Analytics and Communications – roles that had previously been held by a number of ex-executives including Kris Miller (eBay Chief Strategy Officer who left in January 2020); Wendy Jones (eBay Senior Vice President of Global Operations who left in December 2020); and Steve Wymer (eBay Chief Communications Officer who left eBay in September 2019).

NFTgators said it had reached out to both eBay and KnownOrigin for confirmation about the layoffs and resignation rumors, but neither responded. eBay continues to display Stefanie Jay on its Executive Leadership page.

Ina Steiner

Ina Steiner is co-founder and Editor of EcommerceBytes and has been reporting on ecommerce since 1999. She's a widely cited authority on marketplace selling and is author of "Turn eBay Data Into Dollars" (McGraw-Hill 2006). Her blog was featured in the book, "Blogging Heroes" (Wiley 2008). She is a member of the Online News Association (Sep 2005 - present) and Investigative Reporters and Editors (Mar 2006 - present). Follow her on Twitter at @ecommercebytes and send news tips to ina@ecommercebytes.com. See disclosure at EcommerceBytes.com/disclosure/.