Coinbase to cut about 18% of its staff

Coinbase to cut about 18% of staff amid crypto winter.

The American Bitcoin exchange Coinbase will cut its staff by about 18% as the crypto winter takes hold.

1/ Today I shared that I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of our team at Coinbase by about 18%. The broader market downturn means that we need to be more mindful of costs as we head into a potential recession.

— Brian Armstrong — barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) June 14, 2022

Co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong described it as a ‘difficult decision’.

“A broader market downturn means we need to be more mindful of costs as we head toward a potential recession,” he wrote.

Armstrong noted that over the last 18 months the company’s headcount had more than quadrupled. Too rapid growth led to coordination and integration problems with new hires, making the operation less efficient.

Affected employees will be notified via direct messages. They will be immediately cut off from access to confidential customer information.

“I understand that removing access will be abrupt and unexpected, and this is not the experience I would wish for you. … Unfortunately, this was the only practical choice ensuring that no one makes a reckless decision that could harm the business or themselves,” Armstrong explained.

The company will pay severance equal to 14 weeks’ salary, with bonuses for more than a year of service. Coinbase will also pay four months of medical insurance and assist with future employment, including within its venture unit’s portfolio companies.

3/ We’ve put some key programs in place to try and minimize the impact to our affected employees. Here is a note that I sent to the company earlier today with more information:https://t.co/CPPDGBPMr1

— Brian Armstrong — barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) June 14, 2022

According to CNBC, Coinbase employs about 5,000 people full-time. The layoffs will affect roughly 1,100 of them.

Earlier, reports of forthcoming layoffs came from Gemini leadership, Crypto.com CEO Kris Marshalek, and also BlockFi co-founders Zac Prince and Flori Marquez.

Binance chief Changpeng Zhao, on the contrary, said that the crypto winter is a suitable time to expand the workforce.

CEO Ripple Brad Garlinghouse noted that the firm is facing a market downturn with a substantial cash balance, which will allow it to hire new employees.

4/ Paying attention — what’s happening now is not a small market gyration. We’ve been preparing for this w/ a significant cash balance, and thus can afford to keep hiring the best talent w/ the goal of 50% outside the US. https://t.co/49kPgUxJnR

— Brad Garlinghouse (@bgarlinghouse) June 13, 2022

“In the near term the market will most likely shrink. But I and many others are confident that cryptocurrencies will become an integral part of global financial systems in the future. Slow and steady wins the race,” he stressed.

According to Garlinghouse, Ripple has weathered several bear-market cycles in its history and “will do this again.”

Coinbase shares fell nearly 6% at the open versus the close. The shares were trading around $49.

In April 2021 Coinbase went public via a прямой листинг на Nasdaq. The first day of trading closed at $328.28 per share.

In the first quarter of 2022, Coinbase posted a net loss of $429.7 million. The figure nearly doubled analysts’ expectations.

Against the backdrop of a weak start to the year and a downturn in the crypto market, the company began to optimize costs.