Crypto exchange Coinbase Global Inc. will cut around 14% of its workforce, citing a need to manage costs in volatile markets and technological advances in artificial intelligence.
The company plans to concentrate remaining staff around AI skills while reducing layers of management, Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong said in an X post on Tuesday. In this new structure, some teams may consist of just one person, he said, with the responsibilities of engineers, designers and product managers combined into a single role.
“Two forces are converging at the same time,” he wrote. “We need to be front footed to respond to both.”
Around 700 employees will be affected by the changes, with cuts expected to happen mostly in the second quarter, the New York-based firm said in a filing. It expects to incur as much as $60 million in restructuring expenses from the changes.
Coinbase’s move is the latest in a string of workforce reductions across the crypto and payments sectors, as businesses rush to lower costs while market demand is dampened. Companies including Block Inc., Crypto.com and Gemini Space Station Inc. slashed global staff numbers earlier this year, citing the pace at which AI is revamping operations across their respective businesses.
“The crypto winter is probably the real reason for most of the cuts,” said Dan Dolev, an analyst at Mizuho Securities who has a neutral recommendation on Coinbase’s stock. AI, for the most part, is likely an “easy excuse,” he added.
Coinbase shares jumped as much as 8% in pre-market trading on Tuesday. The exchange is due to report quarterly earnings on Thursday.
Revenue at the company tumbled 20% in the fourth quarter last year, as falling token prices drained trading activity. After registering an unrealized loss to mark down the value of its crypto holdings and investments, Coinbase posted a net loss of $667 million for that period, its most recent disclosure.
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Bitcoin’s value has fallen more than a third since reaching its October peak of over $126,000, buffeted by soured appetite for cryptocurrencies and the ongoing conflict in Iran. The crypto sector has weathered a number of volatile bear markets since the asset class first started gaining attention more than a decade ago, putting businesses under repeated operational pressure during extended downturns.
“While we’ve managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster, and more efficient for our next phase of growth,” Armstrong said on Tuesday.
Armstrong had previously praised the crypto market’s volatility as a boon for Coinbase. The exchange ended 2025 with nearly 5,000 full-time staff, notching a quarterly headcount rise of 3% in areas like product development and customer support.
“I will say that in general, I kind of enjoy these periods sometimes — when the market is down, ironically, just because it allows us to keep building,” Armstrong said on Coinbase’s last earnings call in February. “There’s opportunities in every market, whether it’s up and down and so it gives us a chance to buy Bitcoin. It gives us a chance to buy back our stock.”
Coinbase wasn’t the only company to reduce staff on Tuesday. PayPal Holdings Inc. said it would cut costs and jobs as part of a turnaround plan, which aims to realize $1.5 billion in savings over the next two to three years.
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(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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