Coinbase Says Its AI Now Writes 95% of Code—Layoffs Were Just the Autocomplete Suggestion

More than 95% of Coinbase's code is now written with artificial intelligence, according to Rob Witoff, head of platform at the crypto exchange, marking a sharp jump from the roughly 40% figure the company disclosed in February. Witoff told Cointelegraph that "close to 100% of our code, probably somewhere between 95% and 100%, is written by or with LLMs today," and that "effectively, 100% of our employees are using AI on a daily basis here." The figure was disclosed weeks after Coinbase cut 700 staff in May—about 14% of its workforce—with CEO Brian Armstrong telling employees AI had "dramatically" changed the pace of work and that the company needed to "return to the speed and focus of our startup founding, with AI at our core."

Witoff said the use of AI across Coinbase spans "a wide spectrum." Core cryptography work still leans on human review, with "industry-leading cryptographers that are meticulously researching and reviewing one line at a time," while internal prototyping is "effectively a 100% automated," and AI is used to test code, check for vulnerabilities and "verify the math." He added that most Coinbase engineers now operate five to 10 AI agents at a time, with those agents collectively performing work equivalent to about 1,200 employees—and that by 2030, AI agents could be doing the equivalent work of 100,000 employees. Despite growing token use, Coinbase said its AI spend has remained "flat."

The shift has reshaped Coinbase's staffing. Witoff said smaller, more senior teams of two or three employees can now handle work that previously required 10 or more, and that "there were a lot of junior development roles that were impacted" in May, though the cuts also extended to marketing, legal, customer support and compliance. He described the new model as relying on "tastemakers" with "the taste, the judgment" and "battle scars" to direct AI agents properly.

Coinbase is part of a wider wave of crypto and tech firms trimming headcount as enterprise AI adoption accelerates. In March, Crypto.com cut 12% of its staff, citing roles "that do not adapt in our new world." In February, Block CEO Jack Dorsey said he was cutting headcount as well. Separately, Robinhood has said its AI agent feature will "soon" be assisting crypto traders.