Coinbase CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong has announced that he is laying off 18% of the company’s staff, a decision that was prompted in large part by the sharp downturn of the crypto market. Armstrong listed at least three major reasons for why the size of the Coinbase team is being reduced, including worsening economic conditions, which could lead to an extended crypto winter like the one that investors and other digital currency enthusiasts had to cope with beginning in 2018. The CEO also believes that he grew the company too quickly, noting that Coinbase had 1,250 employees at the beginning of last year. Coinbase is one of the world’s major cryptocurrency exchanges, often sharing the limelight with competitors that include Binance and Crypto.com.
Coinbase CEO @brian_armstrong announced today the difficult decision to reduce the size of the Coinbase team by 18%. More details and rationale in Brian’s email to employees, which has been made public for all to see ➡️ https://t.co/SpdZU3KdpS
— Coinbase (@coinbase) June 14, 2022
If you are affected, you will receive this notification in your personal email, because we made the decision to cut access to Coinbase systems for affected employees. I realize that removal of access will feel sudden and unexpected, and this is not the experience I wanted for you. Given the number of employees who have access to sensitive customer information, it was unfortunately the only practical choice, to ensure not even a single person made a rash decision that harmed the business or themselves.
Source: Coinbase