A latest hire impacted by Coinbase’s decision to rescind some job offers this week and freeze hiring said he was blindsided by the move.
“I used to be fired even before I began with the corporate,” the employee, whose identity was not revealed, told Business Insider.
Coinbase cited “current market conditions and ongoing business prioritization efforts” in a companywide memo detailing its decision to drag some job offers.
The announcement got here just two weeks after the embattled cryptocurrency trading firm confirmed a slowdown in hiring during a steep downturn out there.
The most recent shift upended the plans of the out-of-luck hire, who told Insider that he had accepted a Seattle-based role at Coinbase in March and was still going through the pre-employment process as recently as last week.
However the foreign student received an email Friday revealing the offer had been rescinded — after he had already signed a lease in Seattle. He said he faced potential fees if he backed out of the agreement. Moreover, the employee faces a limited timeframe to search out a latest gig because he’s on a visa.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently assured investors that the corporate was not in peril of bankruptcy.AFP via Getty Images
“I wanted to affix Coinbase since it was so big and competitive and even joined Fortune 500, but now I know the way volatile and unpredictable cryptocurrency may be, I’m done with it,” the employee told Insider.
A Coinbase spokesperson told The Post that the choice to rescind offers and pause hiring was “extraordinarily difficult,” nevertheless it “made sense for us to take stronger motion to administer our expenses given how quickly we were ramping hiring.”
“As we said in our note to employees, we’ll proceed to guage all of our options to responsibly navigate Coinbase through the present cycle,” the spokesperson added.
Within the memo to employees, Coinbase’s chief people officer LJ Brock said internal discussions made it clear the corporate needed “to take more stringent measures to slow our headcount growth.”
The value of bitcoin has plunged in recent months.REUTERS
Brock said the hiring pause will extend “for the foreseeable future” and include job backfills for departing employees, unless they’re critical to the corporate’s operations.
Coinbase may also “rescind a variety of accepted offers,” with impacted employees informed by email.
“This decision shouldn’t be a mirrored image on the highly talented people we had prolonged job offers to,” Brock said. “We are going to apply our generous severance philosophy to offset the financial impact of this decision.”
Coinbase said it will create a “talent hub” to help affected candidates with job placement, resume reviews, interview coaching and other needs. It’s unclear what number of offers were rescinded.
Coinbase initially planned to triple its headcount this 12 months.SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett
“We all the time knew crypto could be volatile, but that volatility alongside larger economic aspects may test the corporate, and us personally, in latest ways,” Brock added. “If we’re flexible and resilient, and remain focused on the long run, Coinbase will come out stronger on the opposite side.”
The hiring freeze was the newest troubling sign for Coinbase. The corporate’s stock plunged last month after a weak first-quarter earnings report and a warning that the crypto holdings of its customers may very well be in danger if it goes bankrupt.
Later, CEO Brian Armstrong posted a series of tweets through which he addressed the situation and said the corporate was at “no risk of bankruptcy.”
Coinbase isn’t the one company dialing back on its hiring plans as a result of difficult market conditions.
Twitter has also rescinded some job offers and paused hiring in recent days because it moves forward with negotiations related to Elon Musk’s takeover bid of the corporate.
And earlier this week, one other trading hub, Gemini, revealed it will cut 10% of its staff as a result of what co-founders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss described because the onset of “crypto winter.”
Bitcoin is trading below $30,000 this week, down from its all-time high of $69,000 achieved last November.
