Coinbase to cut workforce by 18% amid wide crypto sell-off

Coinbase plans to lay off 18% of its employees, CEO Brian Armstrong said Tuesday, marking yet another cryptocurrency exchange that has slashed jobs in recent weeks.

"We appear to be entering a recession after a 10-plus year economic boom," Armstrong said in a company blog post. "A recession could lead to another crypto winter, and could last for an extended period," he wrote, referring to a period when cryptocurrency prices fall and stay low for weeks on end. 

"In past crypto winters, trading revenue (our largest revenue source) has declined significantly," Armstrong said in the blog post. "While it's hard to predict the economy or the markets, we always plan for the worst so we can operate the business through any environment," he wrote.