Coinbase has announced it will let go 700 staff — 14 per cent of its global workforce — as it rebuilds to became “lean, fast and AI-native”.

Brian Armstrong, the crypto exchange’s chief executive, cited business volatility and artificial intelligence as reasons for the cuts. It was uncertain whether there would be any effect on the exchange’s small Bermuda operations.

Some services offered on Coinbase International Exchange are provided through Coinbase Bermuda Ltd.

Coinbase uses Bermuda as a regulatory hub for its international derivatives exchange, catering to non-US institutional clients under the BMA framework.

It is collaborating with Bermuda and Circle to build an on-chain economy, using USDC for local payments and blockchain infrastructure.

Mr Armstrong told Coinbase employees this week that two forces were converging at the same time and, “We need to be front-footed to respond to both.”

He said Coinbase is well capitalised, has diversified revenue streams, and is well positioned to weather any storm. And he added that crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption, with stablecoins, prediction markets, tokenisation and more taking off.

“However, our business is still volatile from quarter to quarter,” Mr Armstrong said. “While we've managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, 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 for our next phase of growth.

“Second, AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks.

“Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what’s possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day.

“All of this has led us to an inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company. The biggest risk now is not taking action. We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native. We need to return to the speed and focus of our start-up founding, with AI at our core.”

The restructuring could cost the company as much as $60 million, mostly for severance settlements.