'You Will Be Fired': Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Lambastes Anonymous 'Operation Revive COIN' Petitioner

An online petition claiming to come from a Coinbase employee(s) called for the removal of a number of company executives.

AccessTimeIconJun 10, 2022 at 10:13 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:19 p.m. UTC

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to Twitter on Friday to respond to an online petition purportedly coming from one or a group of Coinbase (COIN) workers calling out the management team for numerous mistakes and demanding the exits of Chief Operating Officer Emilie Choi, Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee and Chief People Officer L.J. Brock.

"If you have no confidence in the execs of CEO of a company then why are you working at that company," asked Armstrong. "Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in!" Further down the tweet thread, Armstrong said airing company dirty laundry publicly is unethical and dumb. "If you get caught you will be fired," he added.

While it has not been confirmed that the petition came from within Coinbase, Armstrong's response suggests so. "We don't have anything to add beyond Brian's tweets," said Coinbase, responding to a query from CoinDesk.

Among the issues noted in the petition were the failure of the Coinbase non-fungible token (NFT) platform, initiatives like the Dot Collector and performance review system leading to a toxic workplace culture, and the recent rescinding of job offers to new employees after just two weeks earlier promising all offers would be honored.

The final word goes to Armstrong: "In any down market, people want to start pointing fingers and find someone to blame. ... Recognize this mental trap and don't fall into it – teams have to pull together and act as one company during difficult periods, not turn on each other."

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

CoinDesk - Unknown

Stephen Alpher is CoinDesk's co-regional news chief, Americas. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about