In its lawsuit filing in early June, SEC charged Coinbase with “operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.” It also argued that the crypto exchange failed to “register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the Financial Times that they could have avoided going to court if they had accepted the recommendation from SEC to trade only in Bitcoin.

“They came back to us, and they said . . . we believe every asset other than bitcoin is a security,” Armstrong told the media outlet. “ … We really didn’t have a choice at that point, delisting every asset other than bitcoin, which by the way is not what the law says, would have essentially meant the end of the crypto industry in the US.”

When Reuters reached out to Coinbase for further comments, the company’s spokesperson clarified that SEC didn’t make a formal request to delist all tokens besides Bitcoin. Instead, it was more of a recommendation and stance brought forward by individual SEC staffers.

The post SEC Asked Coinbase to Delist All Cryptocurrencies Except Bitcoin Before the Lawsuit appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to Armstrong, the company is focused on doing what it does best and not getting distracted by sudden changes in the crypto market.

“We have this saying internally, I like to repeat a lot, which is you know, it’s never as good as it seems, it’s never as bad as it seems,” Armstrong explained. “I think one of the reasons Coinbase has been so successful in the last 10 years is we just we try not to get focused on short-term ups and downs.”

All major cryptocurrencies have been going through a rough period in recent months. Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,504.80, which represents a 54.95% drop year-to-date. Ethereum is 55.82% down year-to-date and is currently trading at $1,664.51 per coin.

This slide has been particularly hard for crypto exchanges, and Coinbase was dealt a big blow since the start of the year, seeing its stock slump 71.53%. As a result, the company has been trying to find ways to cut costs, including laying off 1,100 workers.

Reduced costs still remain a theme at Coinbase, according to Armstrong, but shouldn’t come at the expense of the employees. Instead, the company aims to cut its cost in areas of “marketing, external vendors, and Amazon Web Services.”

“I can’t tell you what the world’s going to be like a year from now,” added Armstrong, hinting that the safety of jobs in his company is just temporary.

The post Coinbase CEO Says They “Try Not to Get Focused on Short-Term Ups and Downs” appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to reports, laid-off employees were first taken off Coinbase systems before being notified about the change in their status through personal emails. The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong later detailed the decision on social media, saying that the company “grew quite quickly over the past two years and have begun to operate less efficiently at our new size.”

“It will take us some time to adjust to this new scale before growing again,” Armstrong added.

The decision to lower the number of employees comes after Coinbase recently paused new hiring in the wake of a recent crypto market meltdown. The exchange previously aggressively recruited new employees and lured them from top tech companies with a significant pay rise. However, most were recently notified that their contracts are being canceled.

Coinbase recently also had to deal with an anonymous petition that circled among its employees. The petition called for changes in management due to missteps in recent months. 

The post Coinbase Announces Decision to Lay Off 1,100 Employees appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Addressing the petition in a series of tweets, Armstrong wondered why the unhappy employees are still working at the company if they “have no confidence in the execs or CEO.”

“Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in!” he continued.

Armstrong also added that “our culture is to praise in public, and criticize in private” and warned the employees that sharing company problems publicly is “unethical” and harmful” while promising that “if you get caught you will be fired.”

The petition singled out various errors and issues Coinbase had in the past, according to the employees. This included the failure of the company’s NFT platform, lack of focus on infrastructure, toxic workplace culture, and failure to communicate important ideas, among others. As part of the petition, the employees asked the company to find replacements for Chief People Officer L.J. Brock, Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee, and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi.

The post Coinbase CEO Blasts Employees Looking for Management Changes appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

In its lawsuit filing in early June, SEC charged Coinbase with “operating its crypto asset trading platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker, and clearing agency.” It also argued that the crypto exchange failed to “register the offer and sale of its crypto asset staking-as-a-service program.”

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told the Financial Times that they could have avoided going to court if they had accepted the recommendation from SEC to trade only in Bitcoin.

“They came back to us, and they said . . . we believe every asset other than bitcoin is a security,” Armstrong told the media outlet. “ … We really didn’t have a choice at that point, delisting every asset other than bitcoin, which by the way is not what the law says, would have essentially meant the end of the crypto industry in the US.”

When Reuters reached out to Coinbase for further comments, the company’s spokesperson clarified that SEC didn’t make a formal request to delist all tokens besides Bitcoin. Instead, it was more of a recommendation and stance brought forward by individual SEC staffers.

The post SEC Asked Coinbase to Delist All Cryptocurrencies Except Bitcoin Before the Lawsuit appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to Armstrong, the company is focused on doing what it does best and not getting distracted by sudden changes in the crypto market.

“We have this saying internally, I like to repeat a lot, which is you know, it’s never as good as it seems, it’s never as bad as it seems,” Armstrong explained. “I think one of the reasons Coinbase has been so successful in the last 10 years is we just we try not to get focused on short-term ups and downs.”

All major cryptocurrencies have been going through a rough period in recent months. Bitcoin is currently trading at $21,504.80, which represents a 54.95% drop year-to-date. Ethereum is 55.82% down year-to-date and is currently trading at $1,664.51 per coin.

This slide has been particularly hard for crypto exchanges, and Coinbase was dealt a big blow since the start of the year, seeing its stock slump 71.53%. As a result, the company has been trying to find ways to cut costs, including laying off 1,100 workers.

Reduced costs still remain a theme at Coinbase, according to Armstrong, but shouldn’t come at the expense of the employees. Instead, the company aims to cut its cost in areas of “marketing, external vendors, and Amazon Web Services.”

“I can’t tell you what the world’s going to be like a year from now,” added Armstrong, hinting that the safety of jobs in his company is just temporary.

The post Coinbase CEO Says They “Try Not to Get Focused on Short-Term Ups and Downs” appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

According to reports, laid-off employees were first taken off Coinbase systems before being notified about the change in their status through personal emails. The company’s CEO Brian Armstrong later detailed the decision on social media, saying that the company “grew quite quickly over the past two years and have begun to operate less efficiently at our new size.”

“It will take us some time to adjust to this new scale before growing again,” Armstrong added.

The decision to lower the number of employees comes after Coinbase recently paused new hiring in the wake of a recent crypto market meltdown. The exchange previously aggressively recruited new employees and lured them from top tech companies with a significant pay rise. However, most were recently notified that their contracts are being canceled.

Coinbase recently also had to deal with an anonymous petition that circled among its employees. The petition called for changes in management due to missteps in recent months. 

The post Coinbase Announces Decision to Lay Off 1,100 Employees appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.

Addressing the petition in a series of tweets, Armstrong wondered why the unhappy employees are still working at the company if they “have no confidence in the execs or CEO.”

“Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in!” he continued.

Armstrong also added that “our culture is to praise in public, and criticize in private” and warned the employees that sharing company problems publicly is “unethical” and harmful” while promising that “if you get caught you will be fired.”

The petition singled out various errors and issues Coinbase had in the past, according to the employees. This included the failure of the company’s NFT platform, lack of focus on infrastructure, toxic workplace culture, and failure to communicate important ideas, among others. As part of the petition, the employees asked the company to find replacements for Chief People Officer L.J. Brock, Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee, and Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi.

The post Coinbase CEO Blasts Employees Looking for Management Changes appeared first on theprimarymarket.com.