Crypto winter has come, and Coinbase is in trouble

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The company is no longer trying to hire people. In a memo posted to the site, L.J. Brock said that the company is putting a pause on hiring new employees because of the current market conditions.

Stable coins, which are pegged to a currency or commodity, are being dragged down by the market as it continues to trend downward. In order to make sure the company is best positioned to succeed during and after the current downturn, the company slowed hiring in May. Brock says that the freeze will affect backfills and employees hired to replace workers who leave the company. Those hired to fill roles in security and compliance are not included.

The social NFT marketplace it launched in May did not receive a lot of interest. 4,132 people bought an NFT on the platform within 19 days of its launch, and gross sales were $875,000, or an average of $46,000 per day. It doesn't help that NFT sales are declining as a whole, dipping to about 19,000 sales per week at the beginning of May, as compared to the 225,000 NFT sales made in September.

The company didn't reply to the request for comment. Brock says affected individuals will get access to a talent hub with a variety of career resources, including interview coaching, resume review, and networking opportunities.

Prospective employees are struggling due to the changeup at the company. Two people who are set to be hired by Coinbase may lose their OPT Visa due to the offer being withdrawn. Others say they received an email reassuring them that they won't lose their job due to the company's hiring slow, only to receive an impersonal email notifying them of a rescinded offer weeks later.

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 pic.twitter.com/lIQe0ph4rk

— Blind (@TeamBlind) June 3, 2022

The initial email to new hires reads, "You may have seen this week that we posted an external post announcing our intentions to slow down hiring so that we can reprioritize our hiring needs against our highest priority business goals." I wanted to let you know that we are very excited about you joining us and that we will not be withdrawing the offers of any employees who have already signed up.

As part of its plan to hire 2,000 employees in 2022, the company beefed up its staff. In its most recent earnings report, it was revealed that in the first quarter of 2022.

Brock stated in the letter that the decision was not lightly made. All of our options will be evaluated to make sure we navigate through the current cycle.

The hiring freeze at Coinbase is a sign that the market for cryptocurrencies is not as good as it could be. The twins behind the Gemini coin exchange are cutting 10% of their staff. Rain, an exchange based in the Middle East, laid off many employees.

By the end of the year, Jim Chanos thinks the price of the company's stock will be in the teens. The hiring freeze went public on Friday, and the shares of the company fell.