Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is laying off 18 percent of its workforce - The Verge

Coinbase announced layoffs affecting about 1,100 employees, or 18 percent of its existing workforce. In a blog post, CEO Brian Armstrong blamed changing economic conditions, crypto winter, and that the company over hired.

Just four months ago, Coinbase reportedly spent $14 million on a Super Bowl ad that consisted almost entirely of a colorful QR code bouncing around the screen, pointing viewers to a website where they could get $15 in Bitcoin just by signing up. Now, its fortunes have turned so sharply that it will lay off about 1,100 employees, or 18 percent of its workforce, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

In a post on the company blog, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong first blamed changing economic conditions that may lead to a “crypto winter” and waited until his third bullet point to mention that the company has “over-hired,” citing its attempt to take advantage of “new use cases enabled by crypto getting traction practically every week.”

2/ We also grew quite quickly over the past two years and have begun to operate less efficiently at our new size. It will take us some time to adjust to this new scale before growing again.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/14/23167219/coinbase-layoffs-crypto-winter-ceo-bitcoin-prices

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