- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told employees to quit in a Twitter thread criticising a petition.
- The "Operation Revive COIN" petition called for three top executives to be ousted from Coinbase.
- Its shares have collapsed this year and it has been forced to withdraw job offers.
Coinbase's CEO has told unhappy employees to quit the cryptocurrency exchange platform after a petition calling for the removal of top executives was leaked.
In a lengthy Twitter thread, Brian Armstrong said the petition labelled "Operation Revive COIN", which first appeared on the cryptocurrency publishing platform, was "really dumb on multiple levels."
"First of all, if you want to do a vote of no confidence, you should do it on me and not blame the execs. Who do you think is running this company? I was a little offended not to be included :)," Armstrong tweeted.
He added: "Second, if you have no confidence in the execs or CEO of a company then why are you working at that company? Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in!"
—Brian Armstrong – barmstrong.eth (@brian_armstrong) June 10, 2022
Armstrong went on to suggest the move to air discontent externally hurt the company, and that it was "dumb" because any employees found to have circulated it would be fired.
The petition aimed to remove chief operating office Emilie Choi, chief product officer Surojit Chatterjee, and chief people officer LJ Brock in a vote of no confidence. Employees said they were the executives most responsible for "executing plans and ideas that have led to questionable results and negative value."
These included the failure of the Coinbase NFT platform, the unsustainable hiring for thousands of roles despite not hitting targets, and "a generally apathetic and sometimes condescending attitude." They said recent moves had hurt the company's share price and reputation.
Shares in Coinbase, a Fortune 500 company with more than 4,900 employees, has fallen by three quarters this year as the wider crypto sector battles a downturn.
The launch of Coinbase's NFT platform got off to a sluggish start last month, data show, as the group traded at a fraction of competitors OpenSea and LooksRares.
In February, the company announced it planned to hire another 2,000 employees. But as the value of major cryptocurrencies including bitcoin fell and wider economic pressures mounted, it said it was "slowing hiring" in May, before withdrawing offers that had already been made to prospective employees earlier this month.
Coinbase is also reportedly testing out having employees rate each other in an app after meetings.
In the petition, Coinbase employees said they had been hurt by hurt by having "to deal with the unrealistic demands from said executives and the damage they have caused on a day-to-day basis."
Coinbase declined to comment.