Coinbase’s top human resources executive is leaving the cryptocurrency exchange just weeks after overseeing one of the company’s biggest workforce reductions, marking another leadership change as the firm restructures around artificial intelligence and expands beyond crypto.
Lawrence Brock, Coinbase’s Chief People Officer, will step down on August 17 after leading the company’s May restructuring that eliminated about 700 positions, roughly 14% of its workforce. According to a regulatory filing, he will remain with the company as an adviser through November 30, receiving $182,500 during the transition. Dominique Baillet is expected to succeed him.
The layoffs, disclosed in a filing on May 5, reduced Coinbase’s headcount from around 5,000 employees to approximately 4,300. The company said the move would cost between $50 million and $60 million, with the overwhelming majority of the expense going toward cash severance payments.
Coinbase said the cuts were aimed at lowering operating costs while reshaping the business for what Chief Executive Brian Armstrong described as the “AI era.” Most of the restructuring charges are expected to appear in the company’s second-quarter earnings, which are scheduled for release on July 30.
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For Brock, the latest round of layoffs was not unfamiliar territory.
In June 2022, he announced a hiring freeze and rescinded job offers to candidates who had not yet joined the company, just days before Coinbase cut 18% of its workforce.
“We will also rescind a number of outstanding offers for people who have not started yet. This is not a decision we make lightly, but is necessary to ensure we are only growing in the highest-priority areas,” as Brock wrote in a company post 12 days before the 2022 layoffs.
As Chief People Officer, Brock oversaw recruiting, compensation, employee benefits and workplace policies, placing him at the center of both major restructuring efforts.
His separation agreement allows one portion of his equity awards to continue vesting until November 20, while the remaining unvested stock will be cancelled. Coinbase did not provide a reason for his departure and did not connect it to the recent layoffs.
Brock’s exit comes during a broader leadership reshuffle at Coinbase. Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal recently left to join a startup, with Molly Abraham taking over as general counsel. Jesse Pollak also acknowledged that his on-chain social media initiative had fallen short of expectations and returned the Base app to Coinbase. Meanwhile, The Information reported that Greg Tusar, co-head of Coinbase Institutional, is transitioning into a policy-focused role.
Rather than bringing in outside executives, Coinbase has largely promoted internal leaders as it pursues its vision of becoming what it calls an “everything exchange.” The strategy aims to expand beyond cryptocurrency by offering stocks, derivatives and regulated prediction markets alongside its existing crypto products.
Armstrong presented the May reorganization as a necessary step in preparing Coinbase for an AI-driven future. Brock led the people strategy behind that transformation, but his departure means he will leave before investors get their first detailed look at how the restructuring affected the company’s financial performance. All eyes will now be on Coinbase’s July 30 earnings report for early signs of whether the overhaul is delivering the results management promised.