Last February, the Super Bowl was star-studded, and the games played were phenomenal. What took the attention of many around the internet and those watching from the comfort of their home was a Coinbase advertisement. It’s not your traditional video or banner that screams “use our service”; instead, it’s a QR code that bounces all around the screen. Signing up using the QR code entitles you to $15 worth of Bitcoin.
It doesn’t seem like a bad marketing idea since the Super Bowl boasts a ton of viewers, but it is reported that Coinbase spent a total of $14 million just for this advertisement alone. It may not correlate with the current events unfolding, but Coinbase just filed to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that they will be laying off 18% of their total workforce, equating to 1,100 employees.
Cryptocurrency is the driving force for the layoff
It is later confirmed by a blogpost of Coinbase’s CEO, Brian Armstrong, about the layoff and how things are currently in the company. Armstrong blamed the current cryptocurrency landscape and what others call the “crypto winter” for their move. Before ending the post, he also admitted that the company went overboard regarding hiring. According to him, hiring more people is a response to the performance of cryptocurrency earlier this year, which got strong traction and great exposure over different parts of the internet.
On June 14, Armstrong went to Twitter and wrote a response to a Coinbase employee asking for the removal of some of the company’s higher-ups. Armstrong thinks this statement is “dumb on multiple levels” and then added that those unhappy with the current situation should call it quits.
Upon closer look, the petition that Armstrong responded to doesn’t seem like how he views it. While it doesn’t reference the Super Bowl advertisement, the petition calls out how Coinbase is confident in hiring multiple people, even if the cryptocurrency landscape seems somewhat unpredictable. The petition also took a jab at Coinbase’ weird prioritization of projects that appears to cost the company a lot of money.
One good example of a destructive project priority is the launching of Coinbase’s very own NFT platform. Everyone knows how NFTs are currently doing, and the time Coinbase launched this initiative seems to have missed the spot. The NFT marketplace is now bleeding, and it doesn’t seem like the user base will grow anytime soon.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, Armstrong and his co-executives Fred Ehrsam, Emilie Choi, and Surojit Chatterjee were able to generate $1.2 billion in total sales ever since Coinbase’s initial public offering in 2021.
Coinbase have already retracted job offerings that were already approved
Not long ago, Coinbase was also reported retracting their job offerings to candidates they have already approved. Those supposed to be employees are now lost since most have already left their previous jobs in favor of a position in Coinbase. According to Motherboard, more than 300 candidates have been dropped by Coinbase since they have already planned on cutting their workforce.
With Bitcoin’s price plummeting and the so-called “crypto-winter” still ongoing, many more crypto-related companies are eyeing a layoff to maximize their profits.
Armstrong said that Coinbase’s HR would notify those employees affected by the layoff. However, they will still receive several benefits, including three months and two weeks of severance, with an additional two weeks depending on the years they have been employed.
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