Coinbase is expected to let go of 950 employees or approximately 20% of its workforce. The crypto company is no stranger to major layoffs. Last June, the crypto company let go of 1,100 employees, leaving 4,700 employees in the workplace by September.
“As we examined our 2023 scenarios, it became clear that we would need to reduce expenses to increase our chances of doing well in every scenario. While it is always painful to part ways with our fellow colleagues, there was no way to reduce our expenses significantly enough, without considering changes to headcount,” Brian Armstrong of Coinbase stated.
“As part of a headcount reduction like this, we will be shutting down several projects where we have a lower probability of success. Affected teams will receive communication on this today. Our other projects will continue to operate as normal, just with fewer people on the team. We will share more detail publicly on our expense outlook in a public 8-K filing today and on our Q4 earnings call in February.”
Recent layoffs at Coinbase are the product of a much larger drop-off in success for the crypto marketplace. According to a recent report from NPR, Bitcoin is currently down more than 70% from where it was in November 2021. Not to mention, BlockFi, FTX and Celsius collapsed in 2022.
Despite recent setbacks, the future may end up being brighter for Coinbase. CNN Business reports Coinbase has seen its stock rise by 20% through the first ten days of 2023.
