Coinbase said Tuesday it will lay off 18% of staff, due to difficult economic conditions and excessively rapid expansion as the cryptocurrency market collapses. Already in mid-May Coinbase reported that the number of active users was decreasing. The group recorded a net loss of approximately $ 430 million in the first quarter of 2022. Coinbase layoffs correspond to approximately 1,100 jobs In a statement Brian Armstron, CEO of the exchange, spoke of a “difficult decision” made “to ensure we remain healthy during this economic downturn.”
“We appear to be entering a recession after a 10+ year economic boom. A recession could lead to another crypto winter, and could last for an extended period.” […] “Coinbase has survived through four major crypto winters, and we’ve created long term success by carefully managing our spending through every down period. Down markets are challenging to navigate and require a different mindset”
Bitcoin fell to an 18-month low today, below $ 21,000, amid a large cryptocurrency crash, even in parallel with a sudden drop in global markets. With equity markets in trouble since the start of the year and inflation at a 40-year high, tighter monetary policy around the world has helped to plunge the cryptocurrency sector as well.
In the press release, the US company also announces the terms of dismissal. Affected employees are informed that – for security reasons – they will be logged out of access to their systems. This, according to the company’s version, to prevent learning of the dismissal decision could push the fired people to make decisions that could somehow harm Coinbase.
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.
The company, in according with the communication, has activated all channels for monetary and non-monetary support to the employees affected by the decisions.
Coinbase’s layoff announcement came shortly after CEO Brian Armstrong criticized some of his employees on Twitter for issuing a public petition to remove some top Coinbase executives. The petition specifically called for the removal of chief operating officer Emilie Choi, chief product officer Surojit Chatterjee, and chief people officer LJ Brock. According to the petitioners, Coinbase’s executive team made decisions that “were not in the best interests of the company, its employees and its shareholders”, such as, among other things, the failure of the NFT platform and a toxic culture in the workplace.
