After laying off 18% of its workers in June, Coinbase is once again letting its employees go, this time more than 60 staff in its recruiting and institutional onboarding departments. The crypto exchange is still trying to cut costs in the ongoing bear market.
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, had previously said the company had overhired and had to purge its workforce accordingly. The year 2022 has been tough for the crypto industry with companies either laying off staff to tackle the crypto winter or declaring bankruptcy and shutting shop.
With share prices touching the $350 mark, Coinbase went public in 2021 but lost its momentum and has been trading at $50.92 per share. Because of Coinbase share’s current price, Cathie Wood’s Ark Investment Management has been grabbing it like hotcakes. Ark Invest bought 420,949 shares of Coinbase this week.
Armstrong had stated in a blog post that rapidly changing economic conditions, managing costs in down markets and the company growing too quickly were the primary reason for the layoffs. He pointed out that Coinbase’s employee costs skyrocketed because of almost four times growth in the last 18 months. Armstrong said the costs were too high to effectively manage in this uncertain market.
Coinbase’s latest round of layoffs also comes amid a fresh market downturn with FTX nearly bankrupt. Armstrong assured its investors and customers that Coinbase does not have any exposure to Sam Bankman-Fried’s crumbling FTX or to Alameda Research.
