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Coinbase boss fires 700 workers in 6:55 a.m. email saying company must become ‘lean, fast, and AI-native’
NY Post ^ | 5/07/26 | Ariel Zilber

Posted on 05/07/2026 2:41:31 PM PDT by Libloather

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.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Conspiracy; History; Local News
KEYWORDS: ai; coinbase; fired; h1b; layoffs; workers

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Sounds like gibberish to me. Does AI speak English?
1 posted on 05/07/2026 2:41:31 PM PDT by Libloather
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To: Libloather

it is a shame when people get laid off, especially when it wasn’t anything they did wrong


2 posted on 05/07/2026 2:44:47 PM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: Libloather

The Tech Bros all over-hired. AI is an excuse to cut staff.


3 posted on 05/07/2026 2:45:02 PM PDT by bobcat62
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To: Libloather

Cloudflare, as well?

https://x.com/Polymarket/status/2052494665048379827


4 posted on 05/07/2026 2:46:29 PM PDT by bobcat62
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To: Libloather

it is a shame when people get laid off, especially when it wasn’t anything they did wrong

and I gotta say (as an addicted user of computers including email) that sending a mass emailing firing people, sending it out before 7am is NOT a particularly nice or kindly way of doing business

but i guess it does provide the boss with a feeling of some safety


5 posted on 05/07/2026 2:47:51 PM PDT by faithhopecharity ("Politicians aren't born, they're excreted." Marcus Tullius Cicero (106 to 43 BCE))
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To: Libloather

The funny thing is this guy said that they were going to demand more individual performance from their managers. In literally the next sentence he talks about removing layers of management so that every manager will have 15 direct reports.

15 direct reports is a LOT of people to manage (aside from a front line supervisor managing people in a contained business function.)

His whole presentation smelled of consultants trimming fat before a company is sold.


6 posted on 05/07/2026 2:47:52 PM PDT by Vermont Lt
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To: bobcat62

Add Upwork & what I assume is bill.com:

https://x.com/gurgavin/status/2052493883523682585

For Bay Area workers, Dinan was recruiting for bill.com.


7 posted on 05/07/2026 2:48:03 PM PDT by bobcat62
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To: bobcat62

“The Tech Bros all over-hired. AI is an excuse to cut staff.”

that’s what i think too ... 10%-15% annual layoffs in the tech industries have always been a standard way to cut deadwood ... Elon showed that 80% cuts of deadwood could be made without a hiccup when he bought twitter, and that was BEFORE the big AI fad ...


8 posted on 05/07/2026 2:50:09 PM PDT by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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To: Libloather
Many of us have been through layoffs far worse than 14% and that was long before AI. More to come.



9 posted on 05/07/2026 2:52:20 PM PDT by plain talk
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To: Vermont Lt
His whole presentation smelled of consultants trimming fat before a company is sold.


10 posted on 05/07/2026 2:53:29 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: catnipman

You can be sure a certain ethnic group will be spared from layoffs.


11 posted on 05/07/2026 2:54:44 PM PDT by bobcat62
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To: Libloather

Wow! “nontechnical employees have started writing production-level code.” I’d say “That’s not going to work” but I have got a 5,000 line Python program I had Claude write for me to do in-depth analysis of my hikes. Since that project, I’ve had it write programs to support nutrition and glucose monitor data integration and analysis. The health dashboard I have in Claude is simply astonishing. I’m a technical guy, so I had a leg up, but I’m not a professional developer by any stretch.

There’s nothing like learning you’ve been sacked because your login credentials don’t work. No kind “I’m sorry, but...” personal discussion with the boss. No going to a conference room with your boss and discovering HR and the company lawyer are already sitting in the conference room.


12 posted on 05/07/2026 2:57:50 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom ( )
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To: Libloather

Armstrong seems to have eliminated a lot of engineering managers, stating the expectation that the remaining EMs will also be hands-on developers. I don’t know how realistic it is to expect what will effectively be IC developers to also people-manage entire teams.


13 posted on 05/07/2026 2:58:37 PM PDT by AnotherUnixGeek
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To: Libloather

“I know this feels sudden and harsh,”


Maybe it’s just me, but getting an early-morning e-mail telling people they’re being fired is sudden and harsh.


14 posted on 05/07/2026 2:59:20 PM PDT by hanamizu
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To: AnotherUnixGeek

When will regulators be pounding on Coinbase’s door?


15 posted on 05/07/2026 3:02:52 PM PDT by bobcat62
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To: Libloather

egg fires chicken for making too many eggs.
Which came first?


16 posted on 05/07/2026 3:12:06 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (The Democrats' official policy is now, “Hate, Violence and Murder". Change my mind.)
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To: Vermont Lt

Best thing our power company (that I worked for) ever did was stripping layers so that an employee [who was also a customer] was only 2 steps from their VP.
I extended that to all our customers ... if they asked.


17 posted on 05/07/2026 3:16:06 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (The Democrats' official policy is now, “Hate, Violence and Murder". Change my mind.)
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