Coinbase anonymous employee accuses three executives, CEO responds: "In a bear market, everyone wants to catch a scapegoat, so blame me if you want"

A recent article circulating on Twitter, allegedly written by a Coinbase employee, accused three executives of creating a highly negative work environment and called for their swift removal. In response, CEO Brian Armstrong believes that the company should maintain a "don't air dirty laundry in public" approach and that this type of behavior will not yield the desired results for whistleblowers, which he deems as foolish.

Coinbase Revival Operation

The article has been deleted, but there is a preserved version available. In reality, it is named "Operation Revive COIN." The whistleblower in the article mentioned that the issues he raised led to the continuous decline of Coinbase stock COIN, which has dropped by 83% since its listing. He advocated for the removal of three executives:

• COO Emilie Choi
• CTO Surojit Chatterjee
• Chief People Officer LJ Brock

He believed that the executives' decision-making did not align with the best interests of the company, employees, and shareholders. The following ideas and executions are questionable:

1. The Coinbase NFT platform is a failure.
2. Excessive focus on and prioritization of specific products, lacking attention to infrastructure issues.
3. Policies such as employee peer reviews and performance systems have led to a negative work culture.
4. Despite knowing its sustainability issues, actively recruiting thousands of positions, which contradicts crypto culture.
5. Hiring more employees without delivering any higher quality products and services.
6. Committing not to rescind job offers, yet ultimately doing so, leading to a more negative image for the crypto industry.
7. Withholding information such as the possibility of layoffs and how to address technical debt.
8. COO, CTO, and Chief People Officer displaying apathetic and arrogant attitudes.

CEO's Response

CEO Brian Armstrong considered the whistleblower's claims to be foolish in every aspect. He stated:

1. Blaming the executives instead of me, who do you think is the ultimate decision-maker in the company? It feels a bit lousy not to be named:
2. Suggestions are good, but our culture is to publicly praise and privately criticize.
3. Publicly criticizing is unethical and foolish; if you are found out, you will be fired for it.

He explained that the employee peer review system Dot Collector was only being tested in two small teams, and he was surprised that such a small matter was brought up. The trial employees also only gave positive feedback, so he has no intention of implementing this mechanism.

He urged that during market downturns, everyone wants to find scapegoats, which does not only happen in companies. Economic downturns can even exacerbate the divide between countries, and remote work can reinforce this negative sentiment. He told the whistleblower that if they have no confidence or trust in the company's executives, they should find a company they believe in.

The Block spoke with several Coinbase employees but could not confirm if the article was genuinely posted by internal staff, although the negative sentiments mentioned in the article are indeed real.