Amid the crypto market carnage, the digital currency exchange Coinbase revealed it has decided to lay off 18% of its workforce. The announcement follows the company’s original plans to slow the hiring process and the firm rescinding a number of employment offers.
Coinbase ‘Grew Too Quickly,’ Crypto Exchange CEO Says
On June 14, Coinbase published a blog post written by the company’s CEO Brian Armstrong. The letter from Armstrong was announced in a Tweet that said: 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,” the company added.
Armstrong’s letter explains the decision was made so Coinbase can remain healthy. “Today I am making the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team by about 18%, to ensure we stay healthy during this economic downturn,” Armstrong wrote. “I want to walk you through why I am making this decision below, but first I want to start by taking accountability for how we got here. I am the CEO, and the buck stops with me.”
Armstrong further noted that “economic conditions are changing rapidly,” and that “managing our costs is critical in down markets.” He also said Coinbase “grew too quickly.” All employees would receive a letter from the Human Resources (HR) department, Armstrong detailed. The letter, Armstrong said, will inform you if you “are affected or unaffected by this layoff.” Employees let go will get a minimum of 14 weeks of severance pay, four months of COBRA health insurance, and access to Talent Hub.
Coinbase Joins Layoff Trend, COIN Shares Down 85%
Coinbase laying off 18% follows a slew of crypto companies that are letting employees go. Bitcoin.com News reported on Blockfi cutting staff by 20% on Monday, and Crypto.com’s CEO said the exchange had to lay off 260 employees. “Our approach is to stay focused on executing against our roadmap and optimizing for profitability as we do so,” Crypto.com’s CEO Kris Marszalek remarked. Marszalek added:
That means making difficult and necessary decisions to ensure continued and sustainable growth for the long term by making targeted reductions of approximately 260 or 5% of our corporate workforce.
A number of other crypto-focused companies such as Buenbit, Bitso, Rain Financial, 2TM, and Gemini have cut staff as well. The Coinbase layoffs also coincide with the company’s stock dropping significantly in value. After initially trading for $342 per share, COIN is down 85.54% and trading for $49.35 on Tuesday morning (ET).
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