Crypto exchange Coinbase slashes staff by 18% amid bear market
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong officially announced on Tuesday that he made a "difficult decision" to reduce the size of the Coinbase team by about 18% due to a starting economic recession.
“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,” Armstrong wrote. He added that the trading revenue significantly declined during past crypto winters, noting that Coinbase has survived through four major crypto winters since its foundation in 2012.
Armstrong emphasized that the firm has been growing “too quickly,” with Coinbase’s headcount reaching 1,250 employees as of early 2021. According to the CEO, the team has grown four times in the past 18 months and their employee costs are “too high to effectively manage this uncertain market.”
According to the announcement, all departing employees will receive support in finding a new role, including a minimum of 14 weeks of severance as well as an additional 2 weeks for every year of employment beyond 1 year. Additional support includes four months of health insurance in the United States and four months of mental health support globally.
Coinbase’s massive layoff announcement came shortly after Armstrong took to Twitter on June 10 to criticize its employees for issuing a public petition to remove some senior Coinbase executives in a vote of no confidence. The petition specifically calls to remove chief operating officer Emilie Choi, chief product officer Surojit Chatterjee as well as chief people officer LJ Brock.
According to the petition’s authors, Coinbase’s executive team has been making decisions that were “not in the best interests of the company, its employees, and its
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