Coinbase to cut 20% jobs and abandon ‘several projects’
Coinbase plans to cut 950 jobs, or about 20% of its workforce, and shut down several projects as the U.S. crypto exchange giant looks to reduce its expenses to increase its “chances of doing well in every scenario.”
This is the second round of major layoff at the crypto exchange, which eliminated 18% of its workforce, or nearly 1,100 jobs last June, but there was “no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, without considering changes to headcount,” Coinbase co-founder and chief executive Brian Armstrong wrote in a blog post Tuesday.
The moves are part of the company’s efforts to cut its operating expenses by about 25% quarter over quarter, he said.
Armstrong said the crypto industry is reeling from the fallout from “unscrupulous actors,” likely referring to Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, and disgraced crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital founders Kyle Davies and Su Zhu, and warned that “there could still be further contagion.”
“Dark times also weed out bad companies, as we’re seeing right now. But those of us who believe in crypto will keep building great products and increasing economic freedom in the world. Better days are ahead, and when they arrive, we’ll be ready. Thank you for everything you’ve done to get us this far, and everything you will do to carry us forward,” he wrote.
Shares of Coinbase jumped 15% on the news to $38.2 apiece. It is still down 83% in the past one year.
Armstrong did not specify which all projects the firm plans to shut down, but said those projects had a “lower probability of success.”
More to follow
