Coinbase will cut its workforce by another 20%, CEO Brian Armstrong said Tuesday.

Patrick Fallon/Getty Images

• Coinbase will cut 20% of its workforce amid a crypto selloff, its CEO Brian Armstrong said Tuesday.
• It’s the 2nd round of big job cuts after the crypto exchange chopped 18% of staff in June.
• Armstrong blamed “unscrupulous actors” for the market’s brutal crash, a possible nod to FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried.

Coinbase will cut 20% of its employees in a bid to hold onto cash as cryptocurrencies continue to undergo a brutal selloff, its CEO Brian Armstrong said Tuesday.

The crypto exchange plans to slash 950 jobs in a bid to reduce its expenses by 25%, he said in a blog post published Tuesday.

Armstrong appeared to allude to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in his post on the job cuts.

“In 2022, the crypto market trended downwards along with the broader macroeconomy,” he said. “We also saw the fallout from unscrupulous actors in the industry, and there could still be further contagion.”

“Therefore, I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce our operating expense by about 25% quarter-to-quarter, which includes letting go of about 950 people,” Armstrong added.

Coinbase hares jumped over 5% premarket trading Tuesday in the immediate wake of the news, but reversed course to trade 3.1% lower at last check.

It’s the second round of big job cuts within months at the crypto giant after it reduced headcount by 1,100 employees in June last year — 18% of its workforce at the time. It had 4,700 employees as of September.

Other crypto firms such as DCG’s Genesis and Kraken have also cut their workforce in a bid to save money, as the spectacular implosion of FTX continues to rock the sector.