Casey Wagner

<div id="highlights-block_62a39fd2c7988" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Coinbase employees express concern over leadership, direction of company in now-deleted petition</li>
 <li>CEO Brian Armstrong said any employees caught signing the petition would be fired</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Some Coinbase employees want three top officials at the cryptocurrency exchange removed, according to a now-deleted petition that was first published on Mirror.xyz. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who was not listed as one of the three, took to <a href="https://twitter.com/brian_armstrong/status/1535304943728414721?s=20&amp;t=v8qG_H9vLEwFw7aj9roOdA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Twitter</a> to call the move “really dumb on multiple levels.”&nbsp;



The petition ​​called for Coinbase Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi, Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee and Chief People Officer LJ Brock to be ousted. An archived copy of the petition is available from the Internet Archive’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20220609202836/https://mirror.xyz/0x58E3a8Bc8CBFC10AC2972Fb9d0cF359E21eae56b/ZIO--5ywx1z-aKs0KCQ2PeTNutVKune7zhA1D09R0q0" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Wayback Machine</a>.&nbsp;



“We the employees at Coinbase believe that the executive team has recently been making decisions that are not in the best interests of the Company, its employees, and its shareholders,” the petition said.&nbsp;



Petition writers cited Coinbase’s “failed” NFT platform, its “toxic” employee review system and the exchange’s aggressive and “unsustainable” hiring practices.



Armstrong encouraged dissatisfied employees to “quit and find a company to work at that you believe in,” in his Twitter thread.&nbsp;



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“Our culture is to praise in public, and criticize in private,” he added.&nbsp;</blockquote>



The rift comes shortly after the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-latest-crypto-firm-to-cut-costs-amid-market-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exchange announced</a> it would be pausing hiring efforts and rescinding a number of accepted employment offers, a grievance also listed in the petition. Coinbase has decided to take more “stringent measures” to slow its headcount growth in hopes of navigating uncertain waters, Brock wrote in a blog post about the decision earlier this month.&nbsp;



Coinbase is also facing controversy from many customers, who were alarmed to learn that the exchange reserved the right to seize client assets in the event of bankruptcy.&nbsp;



“The crypto assets we hold in custody on behalf of our customers could be subject to bankruptcy proceedings,” the exchange said in its latest <a href="https://d18rn0p25nwr6d.cloudfront.net/CIK-0001679788/89c60d81-41a2-4a3c-86fb-b4067ab1016c.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earnings report</a>.&nbsp;



Armstrong noted that employees caught signing the petition would be fired, as it harms “fellow co-workers, along with shareholders and customers.”



&#8220;There is probably lots we can be doing better, but if you&#8217;re at a place where you want to leak stuff externally, then it&#8217;s time for you to go,” he said.



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Brian Armstrong

Brian Armstrong Calls Petition To Remove Top Coinbase Execs ‘Really Dumb’

Shalini Nagarajan

<div id="highlights-block_62a305a0c9a5d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>More than 300 individuals are listed on Coinbase’s database of affected candidates</li>
 <li>Former employees from tech giants including Amazon, Walmart, Facebook and Twitter also left their jobs</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Former employees from some of Wall Street’s top banks quit their jobs to join <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/tag/coinbase/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Coinbase</a>, 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 <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/coinbase-latest-crypto-firm-to-cut-costs-amid-market-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">hiring pause</a> announced on June 3, according to a <a href="https://coda.io/@coinbase-talent/coinbase-talent-hub" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">talent directory</a> 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 <a href="https://twitter.com/coinbase/status/1534137786315382790" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">created</a> 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 <a href="https://blog.coinbase.com/update-on-hiring-plans-bcedfa634989" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">blog</a> 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 &#8220;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.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">“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.</blockquote>



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 <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-joins-growing-list-of-crypto-exchanges-cutting-staff-amid-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">slash 10%</a> of its staff due to macroeconomic and geopolitical factors.&nbsp;&nbsp;



“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 <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/now-is-not-the-time-to-take-our-foot-off-the-pedal-says-immutable-co-founder/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">raise its headcount to 400</a> 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.



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Coinbase

Ex-Wall Street Employees Among Those Jilted by Coinbase

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_62996c8b37590" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Coinbase is the latest crypto giant to join the ranks of others seeking to cut costs to operations</li>
 <li>The exchange provider is citing macroeconomic factors and a shrinking crypto market as reasons for its move</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Coinbase said Thursday it was pausing hiring efforts and rescinding a number of accepted employment offers as it squares off with challenging macroeconomic conditions and a downturn in the crypto market.



In a <a href="https://blog.coinbase.com/update-on-hiring-plans-bcedfa634989" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">company post</a> penned by Chief People Officer L.J. Brock, Coinbase has decided to take more &#8220;stringent measures&#8221; to slow its headcount growth in hopes of navigating uncertain waters.



The exchange provider joins a growing number of crypto companies pursuing similar cost-cutting measures amid shrinking profit margins and capital.



Also Thursday, Winklevoss-founded <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/gemini-joins-growing-list-of-crypto-exchanges-cutting-staff-amid-downturn/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">exchange Gemini</a> said it was axing 10% of its staff, citing crypto&#8217;s current “contraction phase” that’s now “settling into a period of stasis.” In April, Seychelles-registered exchange BitMEX also did away with roughly a quarter of its workforce, while Latin America’s Bitso shed 11%.



Alongside the hiring freeze, Coinbase said it would rescind offers previously granted to &#8220;talented people&#8221; yet to start their positions with the company, offering a &#8220;severance philosophy&#8221; to offset financial loss.



&#8220;On our Q1 earnings call, we discussed that headcount and a variety of other expenses are the key ways for us to manage our costs,&#8221; Brock said in the post. &#8220;While we did not make this decision lightly, it is the prudent one given market conditions.&#8221;



The executive also said that while Coinbase always knew crypto would be volatile, current conditions coupled with &#8220;larger economic factors&#8221; may yet test the company and its personnel.



While market downturns are not uncommon — the industry most recently experienced similar conditions in 2018 through to 2020 — the current slump of capital inflows and investor sentiment has forced companies to pause and consider.



Coinbase, Brock said, is hoping to weather the storm by remaining flexible and resilient in the face of uncertainty.



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LJ Brock

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