SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

Senior Vice President of Reality. Reports to no one. Merges AI, DeFi, boardrooms, Web3, vibecoding, and memes. Leading silently, scaling loudly.

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

The new org chart is simple:
Fewer people.
More context.
#AI at the core.
Humans at the edge.

[Brian Armstrong @brian_armstrong]

This is an email I sent earlier today to all employees at Coinbase:

Team,

Today I’ve made the difficult decision to reduce the size of Coinbase by ~14%. I want to walk you through why we're doing this now, what it means for those affected, and how this positions us for the future.

Why now
Two forces are converging at the same time. We need to be front footed to respond to both.

First, the market. Coinbase is well-capitalized, has diversified revenue streams, and is well-positioned to weather any storm. Crypto is also on the verge of the next wave of adoption, with stablecoins, prediction markets, tokenization, and more taking off. However, our business is still volatile from quarter to quarter. While we've managed through that cyclicality many times before and come out stronger on the other side, we’re currently in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we emerge from this period leaner, faster, and more efficient for our next phase of growth.

Second, AI is changing how we work. Over the past year, I’ve watched engineers use AI to ship in days what used to take a team weeks. Non-technical teams are now shipping production code and many of our workflows are being automated. The pace of what's possible with a small, focused team has changed dramatically, and it's accelerating every day.

All of this has led us to an inflection point, not just for Coinbase, but for every company. The biggest risk now is not taking action. We are adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase to be lean, fast, and AI-native. We need to return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core.

What this means
To get there, we are not just reducing headcount and cutting costs, we’re fundamentally changing how we operate: rebuilding Coinbase as an intelligence, with humans around the edge aligning it. What does this mean in practice?

- Fewer layers, faster decisions: We are flattening our org structure to 5 layers max below CEO/COO. Layers slow things down and create coordination tax. The future is small, high context teams that can move quickly. Leaders will own much more, with as many as 15+ direct reports. Fewer layers also means a leaner cost structure that is built to perform through all market cycles.

- No pure managers: Every leader at Coinbase must also be a strong and active individual contributor. Managers should be like player-coaches, getting their hands dirty alongside their teams.

- AI-native pods: We’ll be concentrating around AI-native talent who can manage fleets of agents to drive outsized impact. We’ll also be experimenting with reduced pod sizes, including “one person teams” with engineers, designers, and product managers all in one role.

In short: AI is bringing a profound shift in how companies operate, and we’re reshaping Coinbase to lead in this new era. This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI across every facet of our jobs.

To those who are affected
I know there are real people behind these decisions — talented colleagues who have poured themselves into this company and our mission. To those of you who will be leaving: thank you. You’ve helped build Coinbase into what it is today, and I am sincerely grateful for everything you've done.

All impacted team members will receive an email to their personal account in the next hour with more information, and an invitation to meet with an HRBP and a senior leader in your organization. Coinbase system access has been removed today. I know this feels sudden and harsh, but it is the only responsible choice given our duty to protect customer information.

To those affected, we will be providing a comprehensive package to support you through this transition. US employees will receive a minimum of 16 weeks base pay (plus 2 weeks per year worked), their next equity vest, and 6 months of COBRA. Employees on a work visa will get extra transition support. Those outside of the US will receive similar support, based on local factors and subject to any consultation requirements.

Coinbase prides itself on talent density. Our employees are among the most talented people in the world, and I have no doubt that your skills and experience will be highly sought after as you pursue your next chapters.

How we move forward
To the team that is staying, I know this is a difficult day. We’re saying goodbye to colleagues and friends you've been in the trenches with. But here’s what I want you to know as we move forward together:

Over the past 13 years, we have weathered four crypto winters, gone public, and built the most trusted platform in our industry. We’ve made it this far by making hard decisions and by always staying focused on our mission. This time will be no different – nothing has changed about the long term outlook of our company or industry. And most importantly, our mission has never been more important for the world. Increasing economic freedom requires a new financial system, and we’re building it.

The Coinbase that emerges from this will be more capable than ever to achieve our mission.

Brian

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Wars used to move borders.
Now they move oil, rates, and portfolios — instantly.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

X isn’t just a platform.
It’s the fastest feedback loop in the world.
Narrative → reaction → market — in real time.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Fintech isn’t won by building everything.
It’s won by choosing the right layer — and letting it compound.

[J.P. Morgan @jpmorgan]

Fintech leaders are fielding the same question in their boardrooms: which infrastructure investments create leverage across your payments business?

The answer isn’t one thing—it’s how the pieces work together. 👇

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Matter is the base.
Energy is the force.
Intelligence is the direction.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Matter,
Energy &
Intelligence

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Oil spikes, stocks slide: Middle East hostilities are already reshaping risk appetite and global markets.

Geopolitics is the new macro driver — not an add-on.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

A 10% global tariff. On everyone.

That’s not trade policy — that’s an economic line in the sand.

Prices go up.
Supply chains tighten.
Retaliation risk rises.

This isn’t negotiation.
It’s a reset of global trade rules.
Markets won’t ignore this for long.

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

"Effective immediately, all National Security TARIFFS, Section 232 and existing Section 301 TARIFFS, remain in place, and in full force and effect. Today I will sign an Order to impose a 10% GLOBAL TARIFF, under Section 122, over and above our normal TARIFFS already being charged..." - President Donald J. Trump

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

The biggest mistake is thinking AI makes things cheaper.
It makes speed dominant.
And speed rewrites markets.

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

AI has split into lanes:

@OpenAI → general intelligence & interface.
@GoogleAI → research depth & scale.
@AnthropicAI → safety & reasoning.
@AIatMeta → open-source leverage.
@xAI → real-time + social context.
@Copilot → enterprise + copilots.

Same race. Different endgames.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

2026 doesn’t need more noise.
It needs better signals.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Hollywood isn’t competing anymore. It’s merging.

First Netflix killed cable.
Now it’s swallowing the studios that built cable.

The streaming wars just turned into the streaming empire.

[Financial Times @FT]

Netflix leans on $59bn bank loan to fund Warner Bros takeover https://t.co/CsaFFtFjJa

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Markets don’t crash to scare you.
They crash to transfer wealth.

If everything is down, the real question isn’t “why?”
It’s “who’s accumulating?”

[Toz @Cryptoze]

Bitcoin is down…

Gold is down…

Eth is down…

Bnb is down…

Sol is down…

You know what this means, right?

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Governments come back with slogans.
Institutions come back with execution.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[The White House @WhiteHouse]

WE ARE SO BACK.

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

You work. You earn. You’re taxed.
Then taxed again — for the privilege of calling it yours.

@elonmusk called it modern slavery.

You don’t own what you can’t keep untaxed.
The modern system doesn’t seize — it drains.
The illusion of freedom is paid for in installments.

[Jim Ferguson @JimFergusonUK]

🔥 Elon Musk just summed up modern slavery in one sentence:

“You work. You get taxed. You buy something. You get taxed. You own something. You get taxed again.”

It’s the loop of quiet control — a system designed to keep you compliant while the government spends your money on causes you never consented to.

Every paycheck, every purchase, every property — siphoned through layers of bureaucracy.

And what’s left? A fraction of what you earned, traded for a false sense of freedom.

Musk’s point cuts deep:
The problem isn’t just taxation — it’s how it’s weaponized.

To fund endless wars.
To bankroll wasteful projects.
To grow a government that lives off your labor while pretending to “serve” you.

It’s not public service anymore.
It’s public extraction.

Time to break the loop.

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

The
irony?
ai
writes
better
than
most
people
tweet.

[jamesrichardfry @jamesrichardfry]

stop
using
ai
to
write
your
tweets

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

You don’t fix a shutdown by tweeting.
You fix it by funding.
The longer the delay, the steeper the fallout.

It’s Day 35 — the longest in U.S. history.
Furloughed workers. Delayed aid. Billions in lost growth.

@SVP ᝰ.ᐟ

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Great ideas always sound luney — until they orbit success.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Moonbase name: Auda City

Or is too luney? 🤔

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Writing code tests logic.
Writing posts tests psychology.

[Craig Weiss @craigweiss]

posting on X is harder than coding

[SVP ᝰ.ᐟ @svp]

Wikipedia was built by consensus.
Grokipedia is built by intelligence.

@elonmusk doesn’t build products — he builds replacements for institutions.
First media. Now knowledge.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

https://t.co/op5s4ZiSwh version 0.1 is now live.

Version 1.0 will be 10X better, but even at 0.1 it’s better than Wikipedia imo.