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Did Coinbase lose focus on its mission by not addressing political and social issues that led to at least a 5% employee turnover?

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Did Coinbase lose focus on its mission by not addressing political and social issues that led to at least a 5% employee turnover?

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong recently faced internal turmoil within the company. According to the latest announcement on October 9th, Armstrong stated that approximately 60 employees, around 5%, have chosen to leave, with potentially more to follow. The incident is related to the company's mission that Coinbase wants to emphasize. CEO Brian Armstrong hopes the company can avoid focusing on political and social issues unrelated to the company's main mission, which has caused discontent among internal employees. Similar incidents have not seemed to occur in politically active Taiwan society, let alone focusing on relatively weak social issues, which would not become a corporate culture controversy.

What exactly does Coinbase want its employees not to do, and what should they focus on instead? What social responsibilities should cryptocurrency and blockchain companies have?

Silicon Valley Culture Is One Thing, Let's Focus on Building

In late September, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong issued a statement that suggested internal disputes within the company had been ongoing for some time. He mentioned the various events that had occurred this year, including protests, riots, the pandemic, and the upcoming U.S. election. Armstrong believed that in times of global turmoil, companies should focus more on their mission and reduce attention on unrelated social issues.

Armstrong pointed out that while it is common for many companies in Silicon Valley to engage in unrelated social issues, he felt that although these efforts were well-intentioned, they could potentially undermine the values of most companies, cause internal divisions, and distract from the main mission. He believed that only by a group of people focusing together on achieving the company's mission could they truly have a greater impact on the world.

Additionally, Armstrong did not believe that a social issue should be addressed through the company. He stated: "This affects our inclusivity. Because Coinbase has many people from different backgrounds and perspectives, even if we all agree on an issue, we may not reach a consensus on how to actually solve the problem." Therefore, he believed that discussions should start from work and focus on addressing various unrelated challenges in the world.

Missions Related to Coinbase

The original intention of cryptocurrency includes many ideals, such as monetary sovereignty, financial inclusion, privacy, etc. Armstrong believes that Coinbase's mission is to create an open financial system for the world, allowing people worldwide to achieve economic freedom through cryptocurrency.

However, he found that employees had different interpretations of this mission. Some broadly interpreted it to mean that economic equality cannot be achieved without equality for individuals. Others interpreted it narrowly, believing that Coinbase is merely constructing the infrastructure for cryptocurrencies. Armstrong agreed with the narrow interpretation that Coinbase's mission is to create "equality in using cryptocurrency" for everyone, rather than solving all the inequalities in the world.

Missions Unrelated to Coinbase

Armstrong made it clear that some matters would not concern Coinbase unless they were related to the company's mission, such as:

Policy: Coinbase will only participate in legislation related to cryptocurrencies but will not engage in healthcare and education policies.

Non-profit affairs: Currently, Coinbase's involvement in non-profit organizations accounts for only 1% of all affairs, such as Pledge 1% and GiveCrypto.org. Armstrong reiterated that Coinbase is a for-profit business that needs to earn more money to have resources for greater impact.

Social issues: Armstrong believed that social issues unrelated to the company's mission should not be intervened in.

Politics: Coinbase will not take a stand on specific candidates because it does not represent everyone's opinion. The company's internal discussions will also not involve candidates unrelated to work.

Finally, Armstrong stated that although these statements might lead to employee resignations, he still hoped to transparently explain these matters.

Twitter Founder Criticizes: Should Focus on Social Issues Faced by Users

After Coinbase's first public statement, it faced criticism, including accusations of stifling employees' political expression and being profit-driven. Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey commented, "Bitcoin is cryptocurrency. It is a direct action against an unverifiable, monopolistic financial system that has brought many negative impacts to our society."

Jack Dorsey believed that Coinbase was regressing and said, "You should at least acknowledge and keep up with the social issues your customers face every day."

Jack Dorsey donated shares of Square worth a billion dollars earlier this year, which will be used for global COVID-19 relief, girls' education, and universal basic income. He still publicly discloses the use of the funds for public scrutiny. He is extremely concerned about social issues and often advocates for the ideals of Bitcoin, showing a different approach from Coinbase.

Clarifications After Resignation Wave

Although not discussing politics, Armstrong responded in the announcement on the 9th that he did not deny the political nature of cryptocurrency itself, as it is related to the company's mission, so they hold a certain political stance. Coinbase does not require employees to pretend that politics does not exist but hopes they express the company's position and actions on events outside the company's mission. As for the profit-driven criticism, his statement remained the same, as the company needs more resources to fulfill its ideal mission.

Discussion: Idealism? Reality?

Before discussing the social and moral responsibilities of cryptocurrency, let's first review Jack Dorsey's donation of a billion dollars earlier this year, which was approximately 28% of his net worth at the time. This donated billion dollars is equivalent to the net worth of Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong. According to previous reports, after Jack Dorsey donated the money, he ranked 804th on the billionaire list, while Brian Armstrong ranked 1990th, indicating a significant difference in wealth. The valuation rumors of the private company Coinbase in 2018 were $8 billion, while the publicly traded company Twitter was valued at $37.4 billion in October this year, and Square, another publicly traded company, was valued at $83 billion, showing a vast difference in the scale of enterprises.

Immersed in the Silicon Valley culture and the American spirit, talents in the cryptocurrency industry may expect more statements and actions from companies on political and social issues, but such phenomena are apparently rare in the industry circles in Asia. After the idealistic declarations of ICOs ended with the bursting of the bubble, more time is spent on innovating and developing business models to attract more funds or transfers, even as they move towards more optimized decentralized and scalable paths, with few companies showing concerns beyond their business goals for social and political issues. Perhaps this is the path Coinbase wants to focus on.

Currently, the largest application of cryptocurrency is still investment trading. First, suck up the milk no matter how you suck it, and then realize the dream, which may still be the reality that most companies face.

Furthermore, not only companies, but also cryptocurrency holders, are based on ideals or practical applications, and they are few and far between.