A San Francisco-founded cryptocurrency company, Coinbase, is set to slash 14% of its workforce as it shifts efforts toward artificial intelligence, CEO Brian Armstrong said in a Tuesday post on X.
The job cuts amount to approximately 700 workers, and the layoffs will be completed before the end of the second quarter of 2026, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The related restructuring efforts will cost the company $50 million to $60 million.
In an email to employees that Armstrong posted on X, he said the company needs to cut costs because the crypto industry has been “volatile from quarter to quarter” and the market is currently down. He said the company will be reducing management layers and “concentrating around AI-native talent.” In another structural shift, Armstrong said Coinbase will be experimenting with “one person teams” with “engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role.”
“The biggest risk now is not taking action,” Armstrong wrote on X. “We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native. We need to return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core.”
Laid-off employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks base pay and an additional two weeks per year worked, their next batch of company stock, and six months of health insurance. Employees who are on a work visa will get “extra transition support,” and employees who work internationally may receive different severance packages.
Armstrong called the removal “sudden and harsh,” but he said the decision was the “only responsible choice” to protect customer information. In an email, Coinbase spokesperson Jaclyn Sales mentioned Armstrong’s post on X about “building a leaner and faster Coinbase” but did not respond to SFGATE’s additional questions.