The San Francisco-based crypto company’s CEO Brian Armstrong said in an email to employees that anyone unhappy with the company’s apolitical stance can take a severance package and leave. (The Block)
Talking point: Armstrong wrote in a blog post Sunday that Coinbase plans to focus only on things that help it achieve its mission and “minimally” on outside causes. Coinbase may engage on policy decisions if they relate to crypto, he said, but won’t engage on “broader societal issues” outside of its core mission. As far as political causes, he said, “We don’t advocate for any particular causes or candidates internally that are unrelated to our mission, because it is a distraction from our mission.” He asked employees not to debate causes or political candidates internally, or take on activism at work outside of the company’s core mission. At the time, he acknowledged “many people may not agree, and some employees may resign.” Armstrong is now offering a package including up to several months of pay to “anyone who doesn’t feel comfortable with this new direction” and wants to leave the company. Coinbase is not alone in trying to quell political discussions in the workplace amid a contentious U.S. presidential election. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said the company will work to curb political debate on its internal messaging platform, while Google said it would extend a content-moderation pilot for internal message boards as employee conversations heat up.