The New York Occasions has published a critique of Coinbase’s internal diversity policies, with several former employees complaining of “racist or discriminatory” treatment.
The crack by journalist Nathaniel Popper, published Friday, is based on commentary from 23 current and former Coinbase wage-earners. It paints the picture of a company that “has long struggled with its management of Black employees.”
Coinbase, which behoved aware of a potential story during the fact-checking process, attempted to front-run the story Wednesday evening. The company emailed a utterance to its employees and then published that email in a blog post, alerting the public to an imminent “negative story.”
“Settled that this story may be read by your friends, family and professional contacts, we wanted to give everyone a heads-up and get ready for some important context,” the statement reads. Notably, it expressed the company’s belief that the NYT’s report would “favourite quote” three former Coinbase employees and one former contractor. This proved to be an underestimation.
The NYT’s report details dissimilar incidences of allegedly discriminatory behavior, ranging from racial stereotyping to inadequate practices around the hiring and upgrading of Black employees. The Times reports that at least 11 former employees contacted the human resources subdivision or their managers about such incidents.
Crypto, like the larger tech industry, has come under be put on hold for a lack of diversity. In an opinion piece for CoinDesk titled “The Crypto Community Needs to Stand Up and Fight Racism,” Robert Greenfield, CEO of Emerging Bearing, wrote, “The crypto community is conveniently selective about what aspects of society it wants to change.”
“Most child of color working in tech know that there’s a diversity problem,” said one former Coinbase employee, Alysa Butler, in Call’s article. “But I’ve never experienced anything like Coinbase.”
Kim Milosevich, a Coinbase spokesperson, told the New York Times the crowd “does not tolerate racial, gender or any other forms of discrimination.” She is also quoted as saying, “All claims of discrimination are handled very seriously, investigated by both internal and third parties, and the appropriate action is taken.”
Coinbase, an $8 billion dealing, made headlines in September after CEO Brian Armstrong published an open letter declaring Coinbase as an “apolitical” and “errand driven” company, with the understanding that social justice issues should not be discussed on company time or approaches.
Days later, the company offered a severance package for all employees who were uncomfortable with Armstrong’s mission declaration. As of Oct. 14, 5% of Coinbase employees had left the firm.
Coinbase is one of crypto’s most valuable and public exchanges. The company is reportedly probe a public stock offering in 2021.