Coinbase Global said in an SEC filing yesterday it would lay off approximately 20% of its staff, or around 950 employees, as part of larger cost-cutting measures amid continued turbulence in the cryptocurrency industry, YahooFinance.com reported. "In 2022, the crypto market trended downwards along with the broader macroeconomy," Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said in a blog post. "We also saw the fallout from unscrupulous actors in the industry, and there could still be further contagion.... In the face of increasingly challenging economic conditions, we made the difficult decision to further reduce the size of our teams to ensure we have the appropriate operational efficiency to weather downturns in the crypto market, and capture opportunities that may emerge." With this third round of layoffs for the firm, the company has cut 2,110 workers since June 2022 and projects it will slash operating expenses by around 25% for the first quarter compared to Q4 of 2022. The company said it intends to complete the overall cost-cutting plan by the second quarter of this year. Coinbase said it estimates it will pay between $149 million to $163 million in total restructuring costs. The company further broke that down into $58 million to $68 million in cash charges for employee severance and termination benefits, with $91 million to $95 million in expenditures being paid out as stock-based compensation.
