Singapore has granted Coinbase regulatory approval to run cryptocurrency-related services in the island state. It is a big win for Coinbase as it continues to expand internationally despite continued pressure on the crypto market.
Jakub Porzycki | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Shares of Coinbase popped about 5% Tuesday after the cryptocurrency exchange announced it will cut 20% of its workforce.
The company, which reported a headcount of roughly 4,700 employees in September, said it will eliminate around 950 positions. Coinbase previously slashed 18% of its workforce in June during a collapse in its stock and crypto prices.
Early last year, Coinbase had said it planned to add 2,000 jobs across product, engineering and design. CEO Brian Armstrong said he’s now trying to shift the culture at Coinbase to “get back to its start-up roots” of smaller teams that can move quickly.
“With perfect hindsight, looking back, we should have done more,” Armstrong told CNBC in a phone interview. “The best you can do is react quickly once information becomes available, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”
Coinbase is the latest tech company to cut jobs after going on a hiring spree during the Covid pandemic. Last week, Amazon said it would eliminate 18,000 jobs, more than the firm initially estimated last year, while Salesforce reduced its headcount by more than 7,000, or 10%. Elon Musk slashed about half of Twitter’s workforce after taking the helm as CEO last year, and Meta cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13%. Crypto companies Genesis, Gemini and Kraken have also reduced their workforces.
Coinbase’s stock jump Tuesday extended its rally from Monday, where shares of the exchange soared after JMP analysts said they believe the company has the potential to thrive in the long term.
The analysts maintained their outperform rating on the stock, and said they remain excited about the “real-world innovation” taking place in the crypto industry. Following the spectacular collapse of the crypto exchange FTX in November, the analysts said they recognize that the fallout has set the industry back significantly, possibly by years.
However, the analysts said the crypto asset class remains in its infancy, and that they believe “declaring victory on either side at this early stage is unwise.”
“While this is clearly a period of stress for the industry, we believe the strongest companies (including Coinbase) will survive and even thrive in the long term,” they wrote in a Monday note.
— CNBC’s Kate Rooney contributed to this report
Source link: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/10/coinbase-stock-pops-on-plans-to-slash-workforce-.html