Coinbase extends its hiring freeze “for as long as this macro environment requires” and will “rescind a number of accepted offers”, updating new hires by email

The Block 2022-06-04 Anushree Dave

Context & Ripple Effects

Coinbase had already moved from a plan to triple its workforce to slowing hiring and reassessing headcount during the market downturn. Reports days later of paused projects, a hiring freeze and cost cuts show the freeze was part of a broader retrenchment, not an isolated recruiting decision.

First-order effects

Candidates with accepted Coinbase offers lose expected roles, while recruiting teams must unwind offers and communicate the change by email.
Coinbase stops adding capacity for new work for an open-ended period tied to the macro environment.

Second-order effects

The project pauses and hiring halt concentrate Coinbase's remaining staff on existing priorities and cost control rather than the expansion implied by its earlier workforce plans.
The move raises the likelihood that workforce reductions, rather than simply slower hiring, become Coinbase's next lever; related coverage later records a planned 18% headcount reduction.

Third-order effects

If this sequence is repeated across crypto companies, accepted offers become less reliable as a staffing commitment during market downturns, shifting more employment risk onto prospective hires.
Crypto-platform operating models are being tested for how quickly they can move from growth hiring to lower fixed costs when market conditions weaken.

The trend: Crypto companies are replacing expansion-era hiring plans with flexible headcount and cost controls as market downturns pressure their operating models.

Discussion

@teamblind Blind on x
Coinbase sent a welcome email to new hires 2 weeks ago promising that they won't rescind offers (1st image). Yesterday, they sent the rescind emails (2nd image) leaving candidates in frustration. We have a referral thread going on to help those who were impacted 👇 https://twitter…
@sandofsky Ben Sandofsky on x
He might lose his visa thanks to Coinbase. https://www.linkedin.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@ahcastor Amy Castor on x
Coinbase has blackened its reputation. Some would-be employees feel like they dodged a bullet. https://amycastor.com/...
@soonweilun @soonweilun on x
SCOOP: Insider obtained a copy of the email that Coinbase sent to recipients who had their job offers withdrawn. Issue was, the email didn't address recipients directly; they were listed as “bcc” recipients. Read the full text: https://www.businessinsider.com/ ...
@copyconstruct Cindy Sridharan on x
as an employee, if you're on a visa: - accept multiple offers - have multiple employers sponsor your visa - once you have a visa and you've actually started your preferred job, decline other offers - always be leetcoding (because you never know) 😞 https://twitter.com/...
@cobie @cobie on x
The promise not to rescind the offer two weeks ago makes the offer rescinding so much worse 😞 https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@bonecondor Chairman Birb Bernanke on x
Rescinding offers is bad enough, but rescinding an offer after an explicit written email promising that they would not do that is heinous. https://twitter.com/...
@chrisalbon Chris Albon on x
Companies withdrawing offers creates a prisoners dilemma. The best strategy for candidates becomes accepting multiple job offers and then backing out of all but one after they have started. https://twitter.com/...
@pranavdixit @pranavdixit on x
What Coinbase did sucks, but the US immigration system that forces people to go back to their countries if their positions are eliminated sucks much, much worse. https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Holy 💩, Coinbase is rescinding job offers for people who haven't started yet. https://twitter.com/...
@safeselfdrive Jim McPherson on x
“It's just a shame Coinbase doesn't put its job offers on the blockchain.” 🔥🔥 https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Coinbase actually sent email to candidates reassuring them they wouldn't rescind offers after they announced a hiring slowdown only to turn around and do exactly that. The lack of thoughtfulness on display here is appalling. https://twitter.com/...
@kshashi Shashikant Kore on x
Coinbase is rescinding offers. This is a public company which only recently had a market cap of $100bn! https://blog.coinbase.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Rescinded offers leave would-be Coinbase employees scrambling https://www.axios.com/...
@akopec Adam Kopec on x
Welp, yesterday I was shocked to found out that @coinbase rescinded my IC7 Product Design accepted job offer after I already quit my job. Wild. Oh well. Who's building cool stuff in web3 / who should I meet with instead? https://blog.coinbase.com/...
@somospostpc Alex Barredo on x
Everything about this is crazy https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@johnreedstark John Reed Stark on x
Which is more telling about @coinbase, the Big Crypto cartel and the state of the crypto market overall? 1) That @coinbase is actually rescinding job offers; or 2) That @coinbase is informing their new hires about the shafting via email. It's a bubble. https://blog.coinbase.com/.…
@chidiwilliams__ @chidiwilliams__ on x
I don't understand how companies let something like this happen. You keep giving out offers, then all of a sudden just go, “oops, mistake”. https://twitter.com/...
@doveywan @doveywan on x
https://blog.coinbase.com/... over expansion in the bull and over contracted in the bear is a common norm in our space The best time to scoop talents is actually in bear,those who are still actively joining are committed ones+ won't ask for crazy comp and know exactly what they w…
@mhiesboeck Dr Martin Hiesboeck on x
Our friends at Coinbase haven't just stopped #hiring people, they are legally unhiring them 👩‍💻 https://blog.coinbase.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
Seeing multiple people whose offers were rescinded by Coinbase now looking for opportunities on LinkedIn. The worst is someone who's on a visa who has now had their status placed at risk by Coinbase reneging on their offer. Really irresponsible behavior by the company to do this …
@firstadopter @firstadopter on x
Not cool. Terrible precedent -> Coinbase: “We will also rescind a number of outstanding offers for people who have not started yet.” https://blog.coinbase.com/...
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
Respect Coinbase being open about this. This reads as business is going very bad, and as a desperate step to avoid the even worse step of layoffs. Coinbase operating costs are ~$1.5B/Q, and the company made a ~$400M loss in Q1. Likely means revenue dropping more in Q2. https://tw…
@mattpaulsonsd Matt Paulson on x
Maybe that ridiculous superbowl commercial wasn't such a good idea. https://www.theblockcrypto.com/ ...
@gergelyorosz Gergely Orosz on x
@Carnage4Life I don't want to be right, but frequently at companies acting rationally, this is the last, desperate step before the even more desperate step of layoffs. Happened at Uber in 2020. Coinbase leadership see their revenue numbers, and have projections on what this all m…
@tmfotter Bill Mann on x
There's a real chaotic energy in putting a tl;dr on a message about rescinding offers of employment. $COIN https://blog.coinbase.com/...
@web3isgreat @web3isgreat on x
In fairness, this comes amidst broader murmurs of widespread hiring freezes and layoffs in the wider tech industry: https://layoffs.fyi/
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
@WillOremus this is why i will only accept job offers made on the blockchain (immutable)
@marinperez @marinperez on x
Crypto winter, public market edition https://twitter.com/...
@bmorrissey Brian Morrissey on x
Spare me the next time the Boss Class gets on the high horses about new hires ghosting and other “unprofessional"behavior https://blog.coinbase.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@abebrown716 Abe Brown on x
If I was a marketing-leading firm in a market famously, historically known for volatility—well, fuck, I'd probably know how to handle volatility better than this: Coinbase is extending hiring freeze and *rescinding already accepted job offers via email* https://blog.coinbase.com/…
@maxwellstrachan @maxwellstrachan on x
Imagine you took a job, told your current employer, and then receive an email—not a call—telling you “Sorry, but we changed our mind.” https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@nycsouthpaw @nycsouthpaw on x
Winter 2009 vibes in the crypto world https://blog.coinbase.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@dlberes Damon Beres on x
Because of the crypto downturn “alongside larger economic factors,” Coinbase's HR lead announced today that the company is rescinding job offers people had already accepted. Hard to imagine how bad those phone calls must feel https://blog.coinbase.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
oh my god. coinbase is rescinding accepted job offers from incoming hires and informing them *via email* https://blog.coinbase.com/... (ht @dlberes) https://twitter.com/...

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