'Really Dumb': Coinbase CEO Slams Employee Petition to Remove Execs

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong called an online petition anonymously created by his employees "really dumb on multiple levels."

The petition, made public on Friday, calls to remove COO Emilie Choi, Chief Product Officer Surojit Chatterjee and Chief People Officer LJ Brock in a vote of no confidence from the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S. 

The petition has since been deleted but is saved on the Internet archive website Wayback Machine. It lists eight reasons for the vote of no confidence, including “the failure of the Coinbase NFT platform,” "aggressively hiring for thousands of roles, despite the fact that it is an unsustainable plan,” and “toxic workplace culture."

But Armstrong hit back on Friday.

"First of all, if you want to do a vote of no confidence, you should do it on me and not blame the execs," he said. "Who do you think is running this company?"

He added that the person who made the petition would be fired and urged disgruntled employees "to quit and find a company to work at that you believe in."

Coinbase is the biggest and best-known Bitcoin exchange in the U.S. The San Francisco-based company has made itself the closest thing to a household name as the first option for newbies ready to buy a little crypto. 

But Coinbase has also been the subject of much controversy and negativity—and not just because of the recent onset of Crypto Winter. The company went public in April 2021 through a much-anticipated direct listing; its shares have fallen 76% in 2022, down 82% from its debut price of $381. Excitement surrounding the exchange’s NFT marketplace dampened after its April launch got off to a slow start. 

Finally, the company certainly didn’t help its reputation when it rescinded a handful of job offers earlier this month amid the crypto crash, though it also set up a database to help those folks find other opportunities in the industry.