By
Steve Muchoki
April 25th, 2024
In his response to the allegations, Brian Armstrong cited the inefficacy of such an online petition to bring the desired company change.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has responded to online criticisms posted anonymously against the company by employees. While the original post has since been deleted, an archived version is on the Wayback Machine. “We the employees at Coinbase believe that the executive team has recently been making decisions that are not in the best interests of the Company, its employees, and its shareholders,” the post read.
Citing multiple reasons, the online petition passed a vote of no-confidence on the exchange. It also called for the removal of three of the exchange’s top executives. According to the petition, COO Emilie Choi, Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee and Chief People Officer LJ Brock were complicit in executing the ideas and plans and ideas that have negatively impacted the company.
In a tweet thread published on Friday, the CEO responded to the petition, defending the executives and the company. He further went ahead to classify the anonymous post as a dumb attempt on many levels.
Coinbase CEO to Disgruntled Employees: Find Another Company
In his response to the allegations, Brian Armstrong cited the inefficacy of such an online petition to bring the desired company change. He noted that he was the one running the company, so he, not the executives, should be blamed.
Also, he stressed his openness to receiving feedback but shared his aversion to public criticism. “Our culture is to praise in public, and criticize in private,” he tweeted. Moreover, the CEO noted the post would negatively affect all workers, shareholders and customers.
Armstrong noted that the firm would find out who the anonymous employees are and remove them. He suggested that the employees should consider moving to the companies they were more enamored with.
One Woe After the Other
It’s been a turbulent few months for Coinbase. After its NFT marketplace got off to a really slow start, the crypto winter set in. Since the crypto winter began, Coinbase has seen its share price nosedive. From its initial price of $381 at its IPO, its shares are down by 82%. Recently, the exchange also came under heavy criticism after it rescinded job offers to new employees.