Coinbase boss fires 700 workers in 6:55 a.m. email | Latest Tech News
Coinbase chief govt Brian Armstrong informed workers in an early morning message Tuesday that the cryptocurrency exchange would remove roughly 14% of its workforce — about 700 jobs — as the company restructures around artificial intelligence.
Armstrong shared the memo publicly on social media shortly before 7 a.m., telling employees the cuts had been vital as AI quickly reshapes how work is finished across the tech industry.
The billionaire co-founder said impacted workers would obtain extra particulars within the hour, though some workers later said their access to company systems had already been restricted by the time the email landed.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said AI is permitting smaller groups to do work that once took weeks — as the crypto exchange cuts roughly 700 jobs. REUTERS
“I know this feels sudden and harsh,” Armstrong wrote, while describing the layoffs as a troublesome but vital transfer tied to the company’s accountability to safeguard buyer data.
He maintained that Coinbase remained financially strong and positioned for future growth, but said market pressures required the company to “rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native.”
According to the CEO, engineers utilizing AI instruments are now ready to full initiatives in days that beforehand took groups weeks to end.
He added that nontechnical workers have began writing production-level code while automation more and more handles routine workflows.
Coinbase employed 4,951 workers at the end of 2025, which means the cuts are anticipated to have an effect on roughly 700 workers.
Brian Armstrong warned employees in a 6:55 a.m. memo that Coinbase must turn into “lean, fast, and AI-native” amid sweeping layoffs. Getty Images
Armstrong said affected US-based workers would obtain at least 16 weeks of base pay, along with an extra two weeks for every 12 months labored, continued healthcare coverage and their next equity vest.
The CEO also outlined a sweeping cultural overhaul inside Coinbase, saying the company would flatten its organizational construction to no more than 5 layers below the CEO and COO.
Armstrong said Coinbase plans to construct smaller, extremely targeted “AI-native” groups succesful of transferring quicker and working with fewer workers.
He added that the company is experimenting with “one person teams,” where engineers, designers and product managers may ultimately be consolidated into a single function.
Coinbase joins a growing record of major technology corporations that have linked workforce reductions to the rise of artificial intelligence.
Oracle reportedly slashed 1000’s of jobs earlier this 12 months as the cloud computing giant intensified its focus on AI.
Coinbase is the latest major tech company to slash jobs while citing artificial intelligence-driven productiveness positive factors. ZUMA Press Wire via GWN Connect
Amazon has also shed large numbers of company workers through a number of rounds of layoffs stretching from late 2025 into 2026. Executives there said the objective was to scale back paperwork and streamline operations.
Meta not too long ago launched another important wave of cuts affecting roughly 8,000 workers, or about 10% of its workforce, as the company redirected spending away from the metaverse and toward AI investments.
Other tech corporations including Block and Atlassian have also announced sizable layoffs while citing the need to prioritize artificial intelligence initiatives.
Armstrong said the modifications at Coinbase would transcend staffing reductions.
This is an email I despatched earlier today to all workers at Coinbase:
Team,
Today I’ve made the troublesome choice to scale back the scale of Coinbase by ~14%. I need to stroll you through why we’re doing this now, what it means for those affected, and how this positions us for the…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 5, 2026
He wrote that he needs to essentially reshape how the company operates by flattening management layers, eliminating what he referred to as “pure managers,” and encouraging executives to operate more like hands-on “player-coaches.”
Coinbase was based in 2012 during the early days of cryptocurrency trading, when Bitcoin was valued at roughly $6.
The company later went public during the pandemic-era crypto frenzy, a period when Bitcoin costs surged dramatically and enthusiasm for digital belongings exploded.
Like a lot of the crypto industry, Coinbase has skilled sharp swings in fortune tied to volatility in digital currency markets.
Its valuation plunged after the post-pandemic crypto collapse, wiping out a lot of the company’s market worth before rebounding as Bitcoin climbed to file highs last 12 months.
More not too long ago, trading exercise has cooled while investor and industry consideration has more and more shifted toward artificial intelligence.
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