Coinbase cuts staff by 14%, citing crypto market downturn and AI adoption 

Coinbase Global Inc. Chief Executive Brian Armstrong announced today that the company intends to cut its headcount by around 14%, or roughly 700 jobs, citing a combination of market forces and artificial intelligence changing how the company operates. 

Posting on X, formerly Twitter, the company’s chief executive noted that although the company is “well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams, and is well-positioned to weather any storm,” but that crypto is currently in a “down market,” causing the need to adjust Coinbase’s corporate cost structure.  

In addition to market volatility, Armstrong mentioned that AI is changing the company’s culture and work capabilities. 

“Non-technical teams are now shipping production code, and many of our workflows are being automated,” Armstrong said. “The pace of what’s possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it’s accelerating every day.” 

His first alignment, he said, would be to “flatten” the company’s structure so that there are fewer managers and the company will focus on what he called AI-native talent who will handle fleets of AI agents. The company will also experiment with reduced team, or pod sizes, including one-person teams, “with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role.” 

Instead of pure managers, Armstrong said, those who remain will instead take on the role of “player-coaches,” taking the field and getting their hands dirty alongside their teammates. 

A filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission described that the company’s restructuring would incur about $50 million to $60 million in expenses in severance and termination benefits. 

Coinbase’s move follows a spate of layoffs in the tech industry, sometimes rubbed up with AI language. Earlier this year, Block Inc. let go of almost 40% of its workforce, citing an AI-native reset. In March, Crypto.com cut around 12% of its staff amid AI-forward restructuring and in the same month Algorand let go of around 25% of its workforce, also citing market forces and AI as driving factors. 

Image: Coinbase