Cultural Shift at Coinbase Comes with a Severance Package

Coinbase CEO, Brian Armstrong, shared in a blog post how the cryptocurrency exchange will be taking a ‘company-first‘ approach in the workplace.

Coinbase to Compensate Employees that Choose to Leave

The new position of the company is meant to be apolitical and create a neutral environment wherein employees can focus on the main goal of building products and an open financial global infrastructure. This essentially puts political and social activism on the back-burner. As BeInCrypto reported, there were mixed responses to Coinbase’s new mission statement. Similarly, employees already on the inside expressed polarizing opinions on the matter. According to a message sent by Armstrong, the company is ready to offer a severance package to those that feel they do not align with the company’s mission focus and choose to leave. The package offers four months’ pay for employees who have been with Coinbase for less than three years and six months for longer-term employees. On top of that, the exchange will offer six months of health insurance through the U.S. government’s COBRA program:

Managing a Cultural Shift at One of the Largest Exchanges

The company remains open-minded and Armstrong recognizes that the cultural shift may raise questions for its employees. A sudden change of policy can be difficult for some to process, so the company has also ensured that every employee that wants to discuss the issue can get in contact with HR for a confidential conversation. Armstrong wrote:

“If you’re interested in speaking with HR about this package (not committing to take it, but beginning a discussion) please fill out this form and someone will reach out shortly. Your conversation will be confidential with HR unless you choose to include your manager.”

Coinbase is the first cryptocurrency company to openly state this type of mission-first focus, and considering the global nature of cryptocurrencies, it does make sense. However as others pointed out, a software company working on cryptocurrencies may inherently be subject to political issues and it will be interesting to observe how the exchange acts when in an uncertain situation.