Coinbase cuts jobs in latest repercussion of crypto crisis

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is cutting 950 jobs as the industry continues to struggle in the wake of the collapse of FTX.

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase chief executive, said on Tuesday that it would cut 25 per cent of its employees, to ensure that it could “weather downturns in the crypto market”.

Armstrong added that the company would also be shutting down several projects where the company had a “lower probability of success”, without providing further details.

The US-listed exchange becomes the latest crypto company to announce redundancies so far this year. Last week, exchange Huobi said it would cut 20 per cent of its staff, while Silvergate, a crypto-focused US bank, said it would shed about 40 per cent of its staff and digital asset lender Genesis announced it was cutting the jobs of 30 per cent of its employees.

Coinbase’s announcement comes as the collapse of FTX and the arrest of founder Sam Bankman-Fried continue to ripple across the crypto industry. FTX’s collapse has prompted regulators to intensify their scrutiny across the sector.

“Dark times also weed out bad companies, as we’re seeing right now,” Armstrong said, adding that Coinbase was “well capitalised” and that cryptocurrencies were not “going anywhere”.

Coinbase’s New York-listed shares were up 4 per cent pre-market.