Coinbase Cuts 14% of Staff, Cites Crypto Slump and AI Pivot

Coinbase announced on May 5 that it will reduce its head count by roughly 14%, CEO Brian Armstrong wrote in an internal memo. He said the company is responding to a prolonged crypto market downturn and changes in how work gets done as teams adopt AI tools.

Armstrong said engineers and non-technical staff are using AI to complete tasks much faster than before. “I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks,” he wrote. He added that many manual workflows are being automated and that the company will reorganize to reflect those productivity shifts.

The cuts affect about 14% of employees and will take effect immediately. The company will revoke system access for impacted staff. U.S.-based employees will receive at least 16 weeks’ base pay, plus two additional weeks of pay for each year of service, their next scheduled equity vest and six months of COBRA health coverage. Employees on work visas will receive extra transition support, the company said.

The restructuring will compress Coinbase’s organizational chart to a maximum of five layers below the CEO and COO and remove roles that exist solely to manage. Leaders will be expected to remain active individual contributors, and some managers may supervise as many as 15 or more direct reports, Armstrong wrote.

Future hiring will focus on what Coinbase calls “AI-native pods,” including experimental single-person teams that combine engineering, design and product responsibilities. The company said it is testing internal AI agents that integrate with workplace communications to assist staff on strategy and creative tasks.

Armstrong described two prototype agents modeled on former executives. One agent is designed to act like a strategic executive assistant to help refine documents and strategies; the other is intended to offer new perspectives and spark ideas. He has previously suggested the company may eventually deploy more AI agents than human employees.

The announcement comes as many technology and crypto firms have cut staff while increasing investment in AI infrastructure and automation. Economists at a major firm estimated last month that AI substitution is erasing roughly 25,000 U.S. jobs per month while augmentation adds back about 9,000, a net loss of approximately 16,000 positions monthly.

Coinbase described the changes as a structural reset intended to align costs and operations with current market conditions and AI-driven productivity. The company did not provide a precise total of affected employees or a timeline for hiring into the new organizational structure. Armstrong wrote that the reorganized company “will be more capable than ever to achieve our mission.”