According to a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Coinbase set to lay off 1,100 employees (i.e. 18% of its workforce) because of the plummeting cryptocurrency prices.
Coinbase set to lay off 1,100 employees
Coinbase is an online digital currency wallet and cryptocurrency exchange platform for buying, selling, and storing bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic, litecoin, and many other cryptocurrencies. Society is currently in the eye of the storm. Coinbase n / A never been in such a bad position, yet, last February, the company reportedly spent $14 million on a Super Bowl ad. An expense that does not pass with employees who are about to be made redundant.
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This ad, which aired just over four months ago, featured a colorful QR code bouncing across the screen, allowing viewers to go directly to Coinbase’s website to get $15 in bitcoins, simply by signing up. . Today, the situation has changed radically. In a post on the company’s blog, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong first questioned the evolution of the economic situationwhich could lead to a “long winter for crypto-assets”and also acknowledged that the company had “over-hired”.
The price of bitcoin has been divided by 3 in a few months
The CEO of Coinbase recognizes his share of responsibility and assures that with all these hirings, he wanted “Leveraging new use cases enabled by growing cryptocurrency”. An employee-initiated petition was also posted on Twitter. This one calls for the resignation of Coinbase executives. Brian Armstrong has responded and encourages employees unhappy with the situation or proposed solutions to resign.
This petition denounces in particular an overly aggressive recruitment strategy given the volatility of cryptocurrencies and launch of too many projects, like that of the NFT marketplace for example. This wave of layoffs comes months after Coinbase began canceling job offers that had already been accepted by candidates. This could concern 300 people who had arranged to leave their previous jobs.
Other cryptocurrency companies like BlockFi, Crypto.com, and Gemini have also announced layoffs. The fall of bitcoin is hurting all these young companies a lot. Its price has gone from $69,000 in November to $21,884 today.