{"text":[[{"start":7.2,"text":"Coinbase plans to cut 14 per cent of its workforce to capitalise on AI advances, as chief executive Brian Armstrong vowed to rebuild the crypto exchange as an “intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it.”"}],[{"start":21.65,"text":"In a memo to staff on Tuesday, Armstrong said all companies, including Coinbase, had reached an “inflection point” at which failing to adopt AI was the biggest risk. "}],[{"start":32.099999999999994,"text":"The technology would now be at Coinbase’s “core”, he said in a post on X, as the US-listed group also blamed the downturn in the crypto market for the decision to cut staff. "}],[{"start":42.74999999999999,"text":"Coinbase’s listing on Nasdaq in 2021 was hailed as a landmark moment for the crypto industry and the company has grown into one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges. However, it has struggled amid a prolonged slump in digital asset prices. "}],[{"start":57.599999999999994,"text":"It joins a list of companies this year including Meta, Crypto.com and Snap to have cited AI as a reason for eliminating jobs. The crypto exchange employs 4,951 full-time staff, according to a disclosure in February, meaning the planned cuts would result in the loss of about 700 roles. "}],[{"start":78.8,"text":"Armstrong, an outspoken tech figure who co-founded the crypto exchange in 2012, insisted that shrinking the workforce was about more than “cutting costs” and was instead designed to remake Coinbase so that AI is used “across every facet of our jobs”. "}],[{"start":95.5,"text":"He said AI was speeding up processes, meaning fewer employees would be required to run the business. “Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks,” he added. "}],[{"start":109.05,"text":"Affected employees were already cut off from accessing their systems, Armstrong said, adding that the move would feel “sudden and harsh” but was necessary to protect customer data. "}],[{"start":120.05,"text":"Coinbase makes most of its money from crypto trading fees, and Armstrong said the business was “still volatile from quarter to quarter”. “We’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster and more efficient,” he added. "}],[{"start":138.45,"text":"Coinbase’s shares fell 2.3 per cent in early trading and have dropped more than 15 per cent since the start of the year. The crypto market has struggled to recover from a flash crash in October, leaving company and token prices floundering despite a swath of crypto-friendly moves by the US government. "}],[{"start":158.1,"text":"The price of bitcoin, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency, has fallen 8 per cent since January, while ethereum and solana have plunged 20 and 32 per cent, respectively. "}],[{"start":169.6,"text":"Armstrong is also making structural changes, including flattening the organisation and creating “AI-native” teams, which he said would use AI agents to be more productive. “The pace of what’s possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it’s accelerating every day,” he said."}],[{"start":186.7,"text":"Coinbase has grown from a purely crypto trading venue to an “everything exchange”, as it competes with other digital asset venues as well as the likes of Robinhood. "}],[{"start":195.7,"text":"As well as cryptocurrencies, Coinbase users can buy and sell tokenised versions of traditional stocks and can trade on less regulated, more decentralised finance markets. The group, which has a market valuation of about $55bn, has also launched a prediction market in an attempt to compete with Polymarket and Kalshi in the fast-growing sector. "}],[{"start":217.25,"text":"Coinbase is increasingly powerful in Washington, where it has sought to influence the shape of digital asset policies under a crypto-friendly US government. It donated $300mn towards President Donald Trump’s new White House ballroom and, in a show of how powerful it has become, a Senate discussion about important crypto legislation was delayed last year after Armstrong publicly pulled his support for it."}],[{"start":242.9,"text":"Coinbase appointed former UK chancellor George Osborne as chair of its global advisory council in December. "}],[{"start":256.8,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1778031213_6659.mp3"}