Ex-Wall Street Employees Among Those Jilted by Coinbase

Staff from Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo left the banks for roles at the cryptocurrency exchange

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • More than 300 individuals are listed on Coinbase’s database of affected candidates
  • Former employees from tech giants including Amazon, Walmart, Facebook and Twitter also left their jobs

Former employees from some of Wall Street’s top banks quit their jobs to join Coinbase, but were left hanging after the cryptocurrency exchange rescinded a number of accepted job offers.

People with backgrounds in finance, marketing and customer experience from JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and BlackRock were affected by the company’s hiring pause announced on June 3, according to a talent directory posted on its website.

They’re among more than 300 other candidates that are listed on Coinbase’s “Talent Hub,” a database of individuals the company created to support those who lost their offers by connecting them to future employers.

According to the database, Coinbase was angling to boost its legal and compliance teams with hires from Robinhood and Gemini. Software engineers from Amazon, Flipkart, Walmart, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, GitHub, Netflix and Chewy are also on the list of rescinded offers.

Coinbase’s Chief People Officer LJ Brock said in a blog the decision to pause hires was influenced by a combination of cryptocurrency volatility and “larger economic factors.”

The firm faced backlash on social media for revoking offers from people who had already left previous roles, with one communications expert slamming what seemed like a “hire-first and strategize later” approach. But others in the industry downplayed the move, suggesting judicious use of resources is a thoughtful plan of action.

“Many companies are cautious of hiring at the moment, but this is not a bad thing,” Martin Škorjanc, chief executive at crypto exchange NiceHash, said.

“Most places saw massive rapid expansion in the last 18 months, so now it’s a logical time to consolidate and set up for further growth on the other side,” he added.

An ongoing crypto correlation with equities, in a downswing driven by macro forces such as accelerating monetary tightening around the world, seems to have snubbed out optimism and sparked frustration in the short term.

Alongside Coinbase, the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini exchange said it would slash 10% of its staff due to macroeconomic and geopolitical factors.  

“With uncertainty abound regarding when the market downturn may reverse, the natural prudence of operational decision-makers comes into play,” Jonathan Chen, head of operations at NFT-request platform Creaticles, said. “This can translate to staff downsizing and other cost-saving measures.”

Even so, some other companies in the industry are on a hiring spree. Layer-2 Ethereum startup Immutable told Blockworks it plans to raise its headcount to 400 this year and projects a runway of more than four years. Digital exchanges Kraken and FTX, DeFi lending protocol Maple and crypto fintech Liminal also have plans to up their workforce.

Coinbase did not immediately respond to a request for comment by Blockworks.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Maple Finance has successfully navigated significant market challenges through its strategic pivot to secured lending (Maple v2) and the launch of its Syrup product. Syrup has become a primary growth driver, delivering sustainable, outperforming stablecoin yields and rapidly increasing TVL. The upcoming custody-first Bitcoin staking product (istBTC) presents another significant avenue for expansion. Crucially, Maple has achieved operational profitability, a key inflection point that, combined with a fully vested token and active buyback mechanism, strengthens its investment case. While valuation metrics suggest potential undervaluation relative to peers and growth, the primary forward-looking risk identified is the long-term sustainability of its current high-take-rate collateral staking revenue model.

article-image

LBTC and sBTC integrations unlock new DeFi yields for BTC holders

article-image

The Breakdown becomes your central hub for insightful, daily crypto macro analysis

article-image

What was a cool $500,000 would now be worth more than $7 million

article-image

Mersinger’s final day at the CFTC will be May 30

article-image

Squads CEO Stepan Simkin explained why the firm launched Altitude and how he’s thinking about stablecoins

article-image

Sponsored

Instead of endless wallet popups, users could connect once, set clear rules, and delegate permission to an app or to an AI agent.