Coinbase Joins Long List of Crypto Firms that are Sacking Workers

Brian Armstrong said the company has lost 18% of its personnel. Former employees will be compensated. Several cryptocurrency firms are laying off their employees.

Since Friday, cryptocurrency values have fallen 14 to 25%, with Bitcoin trading below $25,000 for the first time in 18 months.

The founder and CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, just released a statement saying that the company has joined the list of crypto firms that cut its workforce by 18%. However, there will be compensation for those affected.

“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. 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.”

The reason for the decision is reported to be because of the rapid economic changes that are occurring and the company wants to manage its cost in the current market conditions. Another reason is that the company grew too quickly, according to Armstrong.

Coinbase had 1,250 workers in 2021. At the time, crypto usage was booming. Every week, crypto allowed new use cases. They spotted the opportunity but needed to grow their staff to participate in several bets. Given their growth (200% y/y since 2021) it was difficult to expand at the proper rate. Armstrong believes the corporation over-hired despite its best efforts.

Coinbase is joining the ranks of several other crypto companies that cut down their workforce. BlockFi, Crypto.com, Gemini, and Rain all made the same decision to lay off some of their employees.

With increasing costs and sluggish demand, fintech businesses have lost more employment in May than they did in the first four months of this year.

The market’s 12-percent decline over the previous 24 hours has resumed the slump that began in April. Cryptocurrency values have fallen between 14% and 25% since Friday, with Bitcoin currently trading below $25,000 for the first time in 18 months.