The online platform for buying, selling and storage of cryptocurrencies, Coinbase, announced this Tuesday through a statement that will eliminate at least 700 jobs amid a strategy to optimize its operations due to market volatility.

In the communication to its employees, the company headquartered in San Francisco, California, pointed out that “although we have overcome that cyclicality many times before and have come out stronger, currently we “We are in a down market and need to adjust our cost structure now so that we come out of this period more agile, faster and efficient for our next phase of growth.”

The wave of layoffs represents approximately 14% of its workforce and also comes at a time when the platform is integrating artificial intelligence into its operations processes to increase productivity and reduce costs.

According to Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, the company will begin experimenting with one-person teams and reorienting some jobs in the that the roles of engineers, designers and product managers be combined. “This is a new way of working, and we need to leverage AI in all facets of our work,” he said.

The company estimates that restructuring costs will increase between $50 and $60 million dollars. By the end 2025, Coinb ase had a employee of approximately 5,000 employees; however, it expects that by midway this year the layoffs can be completed.

Layoffs due to AI continue to increase

Coinbase is not the only company that has announced layoffs following increased investment in artificial intelligence; this year appears to be the trend mostly among companies in the technology sector that seek to streamline their operations processes while reducing costs.

For example, Pinterest announced layoffs of up to 15% of its workforce to invest in AI in January; eBay reported in February that it was cutting 6% of its workforce to focus on “strategic” priorities. Dell Technologies announced layoffs of around 11,000 employees in March and said it is investing in the implementation of artificial intelligence and other servers, as Oracle and Meta reported in April.

But the incorporation of new technologies and the use of these to replace human labor is putting millions of workers on alert, who believe that in the future they will lose their jobs.

Recently, in research developed by Boston Consulting Group (BCG), it was stated that 50% of jobs in the United States could be “transformed” by the incorporation of AI in a period of three years.

In this regard, Matthew Kropp, managing director and senior partner of Boston Consulting Group, commented that “currently, there is an almost instinctive reaction: we will cut jobs and layoffs. It is indiscriminate, and that is perj udicial for society because we need people to have work, but also for the companies themselves. The functions that the people in these positions perform will be different, even if the job continues to exist,” he said.