Coinbase, America's Biggest Cryptocurrency Exchange, To Sack 18 Per Cent Of Its Workforce

At least 1,100 Coinbase employees, or 18 per cent of its workforce, are being laid off through a message in their personal email inboxes—because Coinbase blocked workers from their corporate email accounts before telling them the news.

Whilst announcing the layoffs, CEO Brian Armstrong wrote that, "we grew too quickly". "It is time to manage expenses and increase efficiency", he added.

Some analysts believe that this was inevitable. Even before the mass layoffs, Coinbase rescinded offers to hundreds of recent recruits, and froze future hiring.

Some candidates whose offers were torn up are miffed—especially those who turned down cushy, traditional tech and finance jobs to join Web3.

One of those unlucky recruits, Ashutosh Ukey, told Bloomberg, “I would say my experience with Coinbase strayed me away from working in crypto. In the immediate future, I am looking into more long-established tech firms.”

Ukey’s return to tried-and-true sectors could become a common sentiment. Other crypto companies, including Gemini, Crypto.com, and BlockFi, have announced plans to lay off thousands of workers this month.