More than 40% of Coinbase’s code is now produced with the help of artificial intelligence, CEO Brian Armstrong revealed, adding that he expects the figure to reach 50% by next month.
“Of course, all code still needs to be reviewed and understood, and there are areas where AI can’t be applied. But we should leverage it responsibly wherever possible,” Armstrong wrote on X on Wednesday.
A chart he shared shows the share of AI-generated code at Coinbase has more than doubled since April.
Armstrong’s remarks come about a month after Coinbase announced that one of its top priorities is turning its workforce into “AI-Natives” — a sign the company isn’t looking to replace a large portion of its 4,200 employees with automation anytime soon.
The broader adoption of AI across industries has fueled fears of mass job displacement. The New York Post recently quoted an “Oklahoma tech expert” who claimed AI-driven unemployment could shrink the global population from 8 billion to just 100 million by the year 2300.
But skeptics, including White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks and researchers at PwC, have dismissed such dire forecasts as exaggerated, arguing that AI is more likely to enhance productivity than eliminate jobs.
That perspective matches Coinbase’s own strategy: its engineers are increasingly relying on tools like Copilot, Claude Code, and Cursor to streamline development and daily operations.
“This has enabled profound success stories that weren’t possible 12 months ago, like single engineers refactoring, upgrading or building new codebases in days instead of months.”
On John Collison’s Cheeky Pint podcast, Armstrong revealed that he dismissed engineers who couldn’t justify avoiding AI in their daily work—just a week after posting a Slack mandate requiring its use across the company.
Coinbase ramps up hiring for engineers
Despite its AI push, Coinbase is actively expanding its engineering teams. Nearly half of its roughly 350 open roles are technical positions, with more than 150 targeting developers and engineers, according to the company’s careers page.
Of those, 93 are backend engineering jobs—many explicitly referencing AI in their titles or descriptions. On the non-technical side, customer experience leads the way, with 56 openings.
Crypto jobs market cools
Although mass layoffs have slowed across the crypto sector, overall hiring has tightened since 2022. Recruiters point to AI’s growing dominance as a factor, drawing both talent and capital away from crypto.
“Developers and entrepreneurs follow the money and excitement, and right now AI is soaking up both,” CryptoJobsList founder Raman Shalupau and researcher Stefi Kiemeney said last month.
