Coinbase, the global cryptocurrency exchange, has reduced its workforce by approximately 14%. According to Bryan Armstrong, chief executive, the restructuring effort of Coinbase is necessary to transition the company into a “lean, fast, and AI-native” operation.
Announced on May 5, 2026, the layoffs have significantly impacted the Asia-Pacific (APAC) growth teams, especially those tasked to expand the Base ecosystem, Coinbase’s Ethereum Layer-2 network, across the region.
A communications representative who can speak on behalf of Coinbase said it will not disclose more information about Coinbase and how the job cuts will affect Base’s situation in the Philippines.
“Artificial Intelligence (AI) -Native” Restructuring at Coinbase
In an email sent to staff and publicly shared on social media platform X, Armstrong cited two simultaneous factors leading to the layoffs: market cycles and the profound operational changes brought on by AI.
While assuring that Coinbase remains “well-capitalized” with diversified sources of revenues, Armstrong described current market conditions as a “down market”, reasoning out this necessitates an immediate response in terms of an adjustment to the company’s cost structure.
Armstrong also cited volatility in the crypto market. Coinbase is not the first cryptocurrency business to blame artificial intelligence for workforce retrenchments. It has become a common narrative over the past few months, with main Coinbase competitors such Gemini and Crypto.com making similar moves.
Other Companies Cut Costs as Well
Gemini has already slashed 30% of its workforce since the start of the year while rolling out AI tools targeting higher productivity. Crypto.com followed in March with a 12% reduction after Kris Marszalek, chief executive, declared the firm was integrating AI at every level of operations and warned that companies not joining in the shift would fail. Block (formerly Square) took the first and largest step, reducing its staff to 6,000 from 10,000. In a note to employees, Jack Dorsey said intelligence tools now support smaller, flatter teams and predicted that by 20276, most companies would reach the same conclusion and cut jobs as well to restructure. However, market analysts expressed some skepticism of Dorsey’s remarks, noting that many executives still see only minimal productivity gains from investments in AI and that jumps in post-pandemic hiring may explain more of the cuts than new technology.
Armstrong outlined the decision in an email sent to all Coinbase staff and later posted on X. According to the chief executive, the cryptocurrency market remains volatile from one quarter to the next, even as the Coinbase sits on diversified revenue and prepares for growth in stablecoins and tokenization. However, the primary driver highlighted by the chief executive was the integration of AI into daily workflows. “Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated,” Armstrong said.
Artificial intelligence has accelerated operational workflows so that even non-technical staff are now handling production code.
New Operational Strategy at Coinbase
Armstrong outlined the new operational strategy of Coinbase, which includes:
- Fewer organizational layers or flattening the structure to a maximum of five layers below the chief executive officer and the chief operations officer.
- No managers acting purely as managers, meaning all leaders are required to operate simultaneously as coaches and players, and to actively contribute as individual workers.
- Artificial intelligence-native pods for concentrating talent around managing “fleets of agents” and trying out “one-person teams” where engineering, design, and product management are handled within a single role and by a single person.
“We’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it,” Armstrong said. US employees affected by the layoffs will receive a minimum of 16 weeks of base pay, two additional weeks for each year of service to the company, six months of COBRA coverage, and their next equity vest, while international employees will receive similar support based on local laws and practices.
“Over the past 13 years, we have weathered four crypto winters, gone public, and built the most trusted platform in our industry,” Armstrong posted. “We’ve made it this far by making hard decisions and by always staying focused on our mission. This time will be no different – nothing has changed about the long-term outlook of our company or industry.”
How APAC Teams in Southeast Asia Are Affected
The company’s shift toward AI automation and smaller teams has resulted in immediate reductions to the APAC growth division, specifically to the number of staff driving regional adoption for the Base network.
Following Armstrong’s announcement, several former employees from the Southeast Asia region posted on their X accounts to announce their sudden layoffs.
Angeline Vivian, who led growth initiatives in Indonesia, expressed shock at the decision. She confessed on X: “From building @baseindo with a small group of vendors into a real team, to helping make Indonesia one of the top countries using the Base app… this journey has meant everything to me,” she posted, noting that she had expected to stay in her role for years on still.
Similarly, Wyneseo, who was tasked to handle ecosystem expansion across Malaysia, Singapore, and Vietnam, revealed being affected by the cuts. In a post on X, Wyneseo highlighted their work in “onboarding creators, communities, and new markets,” as well as “building internal dashboards and AI workflows to improve team speed and alignment.”
Other global growth and recruitment personnel for Base, such as Connor Holliman, also posted about their departures, expressing the importance of the multifaceted nature of their roles that straddled recruitment, content creation, and running the student track for the Base Batches accelerator program.
Addressing the regional layoffs, Nick Tong (Nibel_eth), who appears to remain with the Base APAC team, stated, There’s some amazing talent that were unfortunately let go from @baseapac, but they have helped build the foundation of what @base in Asia is today.” He actively encouraged industry founders and institutions to reach out to the displaced talent.
