Dune Analytics laid off 25% of its workforce this week, the company confirmed. Cofounder Fredrik Haga is leading a restructuring that shifts the blockchain data platform's focus squarely onto AI agents and institutional adoption of on-chain finance. The cuts come roughly four years after Dune raised a $69.4 million Series B and total funding of about $79 million.
Restructuring toward AI and institutions
The layoffs aren't across-the-board cuts. Haga said Dune is preserving its end-to-end data stack and is actively recommending laid-off employees to other firms. The message: the company isn't shrinking its core product, but it is betting that the next wave of demand will come from AI agents querying blockchain data and from institutions building on-chain infrastructure, not from individual analysts pulling dashboards.
That bet started taking shape in March 2026, when Dune launched Dune MCP, an open-standard server that lets AI agents query its data warehouse using natural language. More recently, Dune released a dbt Connector aimed at teams building on-chain data pipelines. Both products point to the same thesis: the future of crypto research is automated, agent-driven, and deeply integrated into institutional workflows.
Competitor reaction
Ryan Li, cofounder of competitor Surf, didn't hold back. He argued that crypto research now requires infrastructure built from the ground up for AI agents, rather than human-operated dashboards that Dune popularized. Surf raised $15 million in December 2025 from Pantera Capital, Coinbase Ventures, and DCG — a sign that at least some VCs agree with Li's take.
The timing isn't great for Dune. Letting go a quarter of your team while a well-funded rival is making the same pivot faster creates an uncomfortable narrative. But Haga is betting that Dune's existing data warehouse and community — built over years — give it a moat that Surf can't replicate overnight.
What happens to the laid-off staff
Dune is recommending affected employees to other firms, Haga said. That's a small gesture in a tough job market, but it's also pragmatic: many of those people built the dashboards and data models that the crypto research ecosystem runs on. Competitors like Surf, or any firm building AI agents for on-chain data, would be natural landing spots.
The restructuring leaves Dune smaller but more focused. The question now is whether the AI-agent pivot can attract the institutional revenue that VC-funded startups need — and whether that revenue comes fast enough to justify the headcount reduction.
