Crypto and Payment Company Faces 'Layoff Wave' Due to AI, Market Questions True Motive

BlockBeats News, May 6th. Recently, several cryptocurrency and payment companies have announced large-scale layoffs under the guise of embracing artificial intelligence, triggering widespread skepticism from investors and analysts about "AI washing." Since Block announced a 50% workforce reduction in February this year, companies like Gemini, Coinbase, and PayPal have followed suit.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated, "The biggest risk right now is not taking action," as the company proactively adjusts to build a "lean, fast, AI-native" organization. PayPal plans to save $1.5 billion over the next two to three years through AI transformation and will reduce its workforce by 20%. 0G Labs, which develops blockchain systems for AI agents, also laid off 25% of its employees at the end of April.

However, market observers point out that since reaching its peak in October last year, Bitcoin has fallen by about a third, trading volumes are sluggish, competition in the payment industry is intensifying, and companies have their own specific issues (such as Block's over-hiring during the boom period and PayPal's new CEO driving transformation). Therefore, it is difficult to discern whether the layoffs are truly driven by AI efficiency improvements or to mask business challenges.

Impacted by the layoff news, the stock performances of these companies have varied: Block has risen by about 38% since the layoff announcement; PayPal briefly fell by 12% on Tuesday; Coinbase saw an intraday drop of nearly 4%.