Coinbase Global, Inc., the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, has announced plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 14%, affecting between 660 and 700 employees. CEO Brian Armstrong stated that the move is a response to dual pressures: volatility in the crypto market and the profound impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on work processes. The goal is to create a "leaner, faster, and more efficient" AI-native organization.
In an internal memo, Armstrong highlighted that tasks which previously required entire teams and several weeks to complete can now be accomplished by engineers using AI within the past year. Non-technical teams are now capable of generating production-level code with AI assistance, and many workflows have already been automated. He emphasized, "The amount of value a small, focused team can deliver has fundamentally changed, and the pace of this transformation is only accelerating."
As part of the restructuring, Coinbase will significantly flatten its organizational hierarchy, reducing management layers to no more than five below the CEO. The company will adopt a model centered around small "AI-native pods" and even explore single-person teams, enabling employees to integrate multiple roles—such as engineer, designer, and product manager—with AI support. This approach aims to restore the execution speed and focus characteristic of the company's early startup days.
Affected U.S. employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks of base salary, plus an additional two weeks of compensation for each year of service. The company anticipates incurring restructuring costs of up to approximately $60 million, primarily in the second quarter.
Despite short-term market pressures, Armstrong reaffirmed his long-term optimism for the cryptocurrency industry, identifying stablecoins, prediction markets, and asset tokenization as core drivers of the next wave of adoption. Following the announcement of the layoffs, Coinbase's stock rose more than 8% in pre-market trading.
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