12-03-2020
On November 27, the New York Times published a story about accusations of racial discrimination against Coinbase, the most valuable cryptocurrency company in the United States. According to the story, 15 former Black employees, representing about three-quarters of Black employees at the company, no longer work at the company either because they quit or were fired. All of these former employees believe their employment ended because of Coinbase’s racist practices. 11 of the 15 individuals assert they complained about the racist treatment to human resources before leaving the company.
According to the article, Coinbase held itself up as an industry model for diversity practices. Outside interviews by the newspaper question whether this commitment to diversity was sincere. Several former Black employees interviewed by the New York Times felt invisible after being excluded from meetings and conferences. One Black employee described a manager suggesting that she dealt drugs and carried a gun in front of her co-workers; another Black employee recalled a manager describing Black employees as less capable. Approximately 60 employees left Coinbase when CEO Brian Armstrong wrote a blog post instructing employees to leave their politics at the door and focus on the business, right after the murder of George Floyd and its subsequent protests.
In anticipation of the New York Times article, Coinbase issued a denial asserting that any allegations that the company discriminated against Black employees were untrue. The company stated, “Overall, we expect the story will paint an inaccurate picture that lacks complete information and context, despite our best efforts to fact-check details of the story with the reporter.” The company refutes the reported number of complaints, asserting that only three employees complained to Coinbase about race discrimination.