Last year, Coinbase Europe was fined nearly €21.5m for failing to monitor transactions.
Coinbase is making 14pc of its workforce redundant to cut cost and adopt AI. According to recent company filings, the layoffs will affect around 700 employees.
The company employs around 150 in Ireland; however, it is unclear how many of them would be affected in this move. Coinbase did not provide SiliconRepublic.com with details when queried.
Restructuring expenses are expected to cost up to $60m. Company shares were up nearly 4pc in pre-market trading at the time of publication.
In a post on X, Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong said that the company is “volatile from quarter to quarter”.
“While we’ve managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster and more efficient for our next phase of growth.”
AI is “changing how we work”, Armstrong said. The workforce adjustments are expected to make the company “lean, fast, and AI-native”, he added.
He is part of a growing list of company leaders choosing a slimmer, more AI-powered workforce. In recent months, Meta cut 8,000 jobs; Block, 4,000 jobs; Oracle, about 10,000; Amazon, 30,000; Atlassian, 10pc of its workforce; and Snap, about 16pc – with the trend largely attributed to changing technology at the workplace.
A joint report recently published by Ireland’s Economic and Social Research Institute and the Department of Finance has found that AI adoption in here is likely to lead to job losses, leading to increases in income inequality in the “short to medium term”.
“The biggest risk now is not taking action,” Armstrong continued in his post, calling this an “inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company”.
With a smaller workforce, Coinbase plans to “[concentrate] around AI-native talent” who can manage fleets of AI agents. The company is also introducing “one-person teams” who can manage engineering, design and product management.
Last November, the Central Bank of Ireland fined Coinbase Europe nearly €21.5m for breaching its obligations to monitor money laundering and terrorist financing.
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