Coinbase exodus continues as head of marketing leaves

October 16, 2020
By Sam Grant

Coinbase employees are leaving the company following their recent policy, with the latest to leave being the company’s global head of marketing

The Global Marketing Head at Coinbase, John Russ, has now left the cryptocurrency exchange as more staff at the company leave in a mass exodus. Russ tweeted about his decision on October 14, stating that Coinbase demanding its staff to remain apolitical didn’t sit well with him.

Russ tweeted that “In light of the decision @Coinbase employees were asked to make by October 7, I have decided to leave Coinbase.  In my time leading Global Marketing, I have been fortunate to work alongside many great people and teams, especially our Global Marketing team. I wish all well!”

The US presidential election is just a few weeks away, and tensions are high among both camps’ supporters. However, some companies are staying out of the political front, and Coinbase is doing the same. Earlier this month, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong asked his employees to choose between the company’s enforced apolitical stance or go somewhere else. Several employees have left the company as they were not comfortable with the choices presented to them.

Armstrong sent a letter to the employees asking those who are not comfortable with its apolitical stance to take a severance package and leave. The severance package offered by Coinbase includes four months’ pay for employees who have been at the exchange for less than three years or six months for those that have been around for longer. Furthermore, Coinbase offered the employees six months of health insurance via the US Government’s COBRA program.

The issue started in the summer when some Coinbase employees protested internally, seeking the company’s public position on the Black Lives Matter campaign. Although Armstrong publicly supported the Black Lives Matter movement, he pushed back, saying that the company would focus solely on its financial missions and steer clear of any political movement.

Since then, several employees have taken the severance package and left the company. On Wednesday, the company’s Chief Compliance Officer Jeff Horowitz announced he was leaving Coinbase. However, it is not clear if Horowitz left because of Armstrong’s decision.

Coinbase would now be working on replacing the executives such as Horowitz and Russ. It is unclear how many more employees will leave in the coming days.