Coinbase is the latest tech company to gut its workforce as part of an AI-centric restructuring. The company will lay off approximately 14 percent of its total headcount, CEO Brian Armstrong wrote in a blog post. According to Reuters, that equates to around 700 employees.
Armstrong claimed he’d seen engineers “use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks” and that non-technical teams in the company are “shipping production code,” while Coinbase is automating many of its workflows. “All of this has led us to an inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company,” Armstrong wrote. “The biggest risk now is not taking action. 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.”
Many companies have cited advancements in AI-driven efficiencies as a reason (or excuse) to reduce their headcounts. Meta said last month it was cutting another 8,000 jobs, while Amazon laid off 14,000 people last October.
An AI-driven restructuring is only one half of the equation for Coinbase, though. Armstrong wrote that while the company “is well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams and is well-positioned to weather any storm,” the crypto market is down. As such, Coinbase is attempting to become leaner and faster ahead of the next crypto cycle.
The company is eliminating some management layers and organizing the business around “AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact,” Armstrong wrote. “We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including ‘one person teams’ with engineers, designers and product managers all in one role.” That sure sounds like an attempt to get workers to take on more responsibilities.
Those being laid off in the US will receive 16 weeks of base pay, along with two weeks of pay for each year they spent at Coinbase. Severance packages will also include employees’ next equity vesting and six months of COBRA coverage. Affected workers elsewhere will receive a similar package, according to Armstrong.
