It appears the downturn of the cryptocurrency market is having a ripple effect (pun intended) on the industry. Numerous blockchain businesses have been forced to close down or lay off staff to survive – and the latest one is Bitmain.

The mining giant is the latest to be hit by the cryptocurrency bear market and is shutting down its Israel-based development center, Bitmaintech Israel, Globes Israel reports.

The development center was set up two years ago, and will close this week laying off its 23-people-strong staff in the process. Gadi Glikberg, head of Bitmaintech Israel and VP at Bitmain, will also be parting ways with the business, according to Globes.

Bitmain blames the recent drop in the price of Bitcoin and general bear market across the cryptocurrency industry for the closure. Indeed, Bitmain is hardly the only blockchain company that has had to fire employees in order to stay alive.

“The crypto market has undergone a shake-up in the past few months, which has forced Bitmain to examine its various activities around the globe and to refocus its business in accordance with he current situation,” Glikberg told Bitmain Israel employees today.

Bitmain is the world’s largest manufacturer of ASIC mining devices and runs a mining pool under the Antpool name. Earlier this year, it was building a $500 million mining farm in the middle of Texas due to open in 2019, we’ll have to wait and see if that pans out as planned.

It’s certainly a sign that the cryptocurrency bear market is impacting everyone. Welcome to the free market.