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Coinbase shares pop as CEO Brian Armstrong cuts 700 jobs and blames AI

Coinbase just cut 700 jobs. But Wall Street is liking what it sees. Coinbase shares popped as much as 4% early on Tuesday morning after the flagship US crypto exchange announced it was slashing about 14% of its global workforce in a sweeping restructuring that refocuses the company around artificial intelligence. CEO Brian Armstrong broke the news in an email to employees, citing two punishing forces: a reeling market still down about $1.5 trillion from its peak, and AI. "Over the past year, I've watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks," Armstrong wrote in the email, which he reposted on X. "Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated." “We’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it,” he added. As of December 31, Coinbase had 4,951 employees, according to its 2025 financial report . Based on that figure, the exchange's 14% job cut impacts 693 employees. The move puts Coinbase in company with Meta, which is cutting roughly 10% of its workforce, and Microsoft, which is trimming headcount through a voluntary retirement programme. Across many high-flying tech companies, the logic has been the same. The exchange expects to incur $50 million to $60 million in restructuring charges, mostly recognised in the second quarter. The market's reaction in early hours trading suggests investors view the cuts as a long-overdue reset. Armstrong said he wants no more than five management layers below the CEO, leaders with up to 15 direct reports, and what he bills as "AI-native pods" — small, focused teams where a single person can combine the roles of engineer, designer, and product manager. “The future is small, high context teams that can move quickly,” he said. A familiar story This is not Coinbase's first encounter with the axe. The exchange has cut staff in every major crypto downturn since its launch in 2012, underscoring just how tightly its fortunes remain leashed to the price of Bitcoin and the mood of crypto markets. The current downturn has been particularly bruising. Bitcoin is still down 35% from its October 2025 peak of $126,000, even as the S&P 500 reached an all-time high in April. “We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean,” Armstrong said. Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

DLNewsDLNews•Lance Datskoluo5 May

Bitcoin mining meltdown? Why IREN’s real future is in AI, according to Bernstein

Artificial intelligence is the real opportunity for Bitcoin miners, analysts say. IREN’s future now rests on transforming into a hyperscale AI cloud operator, rather than mining Bitcoin as it had done in the past, according to wealth management firm Bernstein. Bernstein slashed its price target on IREN to $100 from $125 per share but maintained its “outperform” rating, citing the successful pivot to building its AI cloud business. “IREN remains our top pick among AI focused Bitcoin miners,” analyst Gautam Chhugani and his three colleagues said in a note shared with DL News. Bernstein’s positive rating lands as the cryptocurrency industry is still reeling from a $1.5 trillion drawdown since October despite stocks and other assets soaring to historic highs. The S&P 500 printed a new record in April, while gold and commodities also post strong performance. Bitcoin is trading 40% below its October high of $126,000, meaning that miners’ business model is less lucrative. AI bonanza IREN’s repositioning comes as equity investors rotate aggressively into AI plays, despite widespread chatter of a bubble. Technology companies have driven much of the S&P 500’s gains in recent years. In contrast, crypto-linked equities like Strategy and Bitmine have struggled as digital asset prices retraced from their highs in late 2025. The Bernstein report says IREN has contracted 150,000 graphic processing units supporting annualised revenue of $3.7 billion once fully deployed, with roughly half already locked into a five-year Microsoft deal. By 2027, Bernstein expects the AI cloud segment alone to generate $2.1 billion in adjusted EBITDA — a key metric for Wall street — as the company sunsets its Bitcoin mining operations. Revenue projections illustrate the shift. Bernstein models IREN’s AI cloud revenue surging from just $16 million in 2025 to $1.4 billion in 2027, overtaking Bitcoin mining as the company’s primary engine of growth. By 2030, analysts project $6 billion in cloud revenue and nearly $5 billion in adjusted EBITDA, with margins exceeding 80% The physical backbone of that strategy is IREN’s 4.5 gigawatt power portfolio. Sites in British Columbia and Texas are being retrofitted for GPU racks, while additional capacity at Sweetwater and Oklahoma provides expansion optionality. Lance Datskoluo is DL News’ Europe-based markets correspondent. Got a tip? Email him at lance@dlnews.com

DLNewsDLNews•Lance Datskoluo28 Apr