Coinbase Launches Database for People Whose Job Offers It Rescinded

Coinbase has made a public database of people it was about to employ—but didn’t—after its hiring freeze included rescinding job offers.

The so-called Talent Hub is “a list of amazing people affected by the recent talent changes at Coinbase,” according to the company’s site. Former Coinbase candidates can self-submit their name, discipline, current company, and contact information.

At time of publication, nearly 350 individuals, mostly software engineers, had signed up.

If it seems strange Coinbase would compile a talent database that could be picked clean by competitors, that’s because it is. The announcement comes in the wake of massive backlash from accepted (and then rejected) candidates venting online about their rescinded offers. In some cases, those jobs were needed to maintain immigration status.

On Twitter, many took issue with Coinbase’s euphemistic phrasing of “hiring update” to refer to layoffs, a hiring freeze, and rescinded offers, with at least one calling the move “ruthless.”

“Optics of this are HORRIBLE,” a Web3 developer said of the Talent Hub announcement.

“If there were a Pulitzer prize for most laughable corporate word mushery ‘hiring update’ would win hands down,” Stephen Palley, a legal partner at Anderson Kill, said in response to the news.

“This is basically a rugpull victims list,” eric.eth wrote. “Wtf is going on over at Coinbase?”