Coinbase boss hits out at ‘really dumb’ employee plan to oust executives

The boss of crypto exchange Coinbase has hit out at a group of renegade employees who called for top executives at the firm to be ousted, telling them to “quit and find a company they believe in”.

A group of anonymous employees at the San Francisco-based crypto bourse filed a petition last week to remove chief operating officer Emilie Choi and chief people officer LJ Brock claiming that they have “been executing plans and ideas that have led to questionable results and negative value”.

But writing on Twitter, boss and founder of the firm Brian Armstrong slammed the group and said the plan was “really dumb on multiple levels”.

“If you have no confidence in the execs or CEO of a company then why are you working at that company? Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in,” Armstrong wrote.

“Making suggestions on how to improve the company is a great idea (in fact, we expect everyone to be a part of that). But our culture is to praise in public, and criticize in private.”

Armstrong added that there was “probably lots we can be doing better”, but if employees are inclined to leak criticism externally then “it’s time for [them] to go”. 

“You’re hurting yourself and those around you,” he said.

The spat comes after a bruising 2022 for the firm which has seen its share price plunge beyond 76 per cent amid a wider rout in global cryptocurrencies.

Earlier this month, bosses at Coinbase were forced to freeze a planned hiring push “for the foreseeable future” as well as rescinding a number of accepted offers. 

Brock wrote in a blog post on 2nd June: “In response to the current market conditions and ongoing business prioritization efforts, we will extend our hiring pause for both new and backfill roles for the foreseeable future and rescind a number of accepted offers.”