Coinbase is laying off 700 employees as CEO cites need to be 'AI-native'

Coinbase said it will cut about 700 jobs, or roughly 14% of its workforce, as chief executive Brian Armstrong pushes the company to become "leaner" and "AI-native."

In a company post published on May 5, Armstrong said Coinbase is being rebuilt around a faster operating model and that AI is already changing how work gets done inside the business. He said engineers can now ship in days what used to take weeks.

Reuters reported that Coinbase expects restructuring costs of about $50 million to $60 million. TechCrunch and other outlets corroborated the layoff plan and the company's broader restructuring message.

The move comes as Coinbase says it is responding both to market conditions and to gains in productivity from AI tools. The company framed the changes as part of a push to improve efficiency rather than a retreat from growth.

The immediate questions are how the cuts will affect teams outside the U.S. and whether Coinbase will add more detail when it next updates investors.