Coinbase Curtails Expansion Plans Amid Declining Crypto Market

The American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase will reduce the pace of recruitment of new employees and will reassess the staff against the background of a declining market.

"We are slowly recruiting employees in order to be able to coordinate personnel decisions with priority commercial tasks," Coinbase Chief operating Officer Emily Choi said in an address to employees.

According to her, this approach will allow Coinbase to ensure stability during and after the current market decline.

"The decline in the market can be frightening. We are making plans for all scenarios and are now starting to implement some of them," Choi added.

Earlier it was reported that Coinbase plans to increase the number of employees three times. The exchange intended to hire 2,000 people to expand the product line and strengthen the development team. Choi added that the exchange has enough reserves to survive the downtrend in the crypto market.

According to recent reports, Coinbase received $1.17 billion in revenue for the first quarter, thus not meeting analysts' forecast of $1.5 billion. The exchange's net loss was $430 million compared to $840 million profit in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company's shares declined by 26% after the publication of the reports; over the past year, the decline has already been about 70%. Before the markets opened today, Coinbase securities rose by 7%. The rejection of a rapid increase in staff will reduce costs.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong previously explained that the words about possible bankruptcy in the reports are a requirement of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), whereas in reality the exchange is not in danger.