Coinbase boss fires 700 workers in 6:55 a.m. email saying company must become lean, fast, and AI-native

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong informed employees in an early morning message Tuesday that the cryptocurrency exchange would eliminate roughly 14% of its workforce — about 700 jobs — as the company restructures around artificial intelligence.Armstrong shared the memo publicly on social media shortly before 7 a.m., telling staff the cuts were necessary as AI rapidly reshapes how work is done across the tech industry.The billionaire co-founder said impacted employees would receive additional details within the hour, though some workers later said their access to company systems had already been limited by the time the email landed.“I know this feels sudden and harsh,” Armstrong wrote, while describing the layoffs as a difficult but necessary move tied to the company’s responsibility to safeguard customer data.He maintained that Coinbase remained financially strong and positioned for future growth, but said market pressures required the company to “rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native.”According to the CEO, engineers using AI tools are now able to complete projects in days that previously took teams weeks to finish.He added that nontechnical employees have started writing production-level code while automation increasingly handles routine workflows.Coinbase employed 4,951 workers at the end of 2025, meaning the cuts are expected to affect roughly 700 employees.Armstrong said affected US-based workers would receive at least 16 weeks of base pay, along with an additional two weeks for every year worked, continued healthcare coverage and their next equity vest.The CEO also outlined a sweeping cultural overhaul inside Coinbase, saying the company would flatten its organizational structure to no more than five layers below the CEO and COO.Armstrong said Coinbase plans to build smaller, highly focused “AI-native” teams capable of moving faster and operating with fewer employees.

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