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Coinbase’s New Policy: Anti-Woke or Just a Joke?

CEO Brian Armstrong’s letter has not just the crypto world but the larger world of tech and business talking about the role of corporations in society.

Updated Sep 14, 2021, 10:02 a.m. Published Sep 29, 2020, 7:45 p.m.
Breakdown 9.29

CEO Brian Armstrong’s letter has not just the crypto world but the larger world of tech and business talking about the role of corporations in society.

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For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.

This episode is sponsored by Crypto.comBitstamp and Nexo.io.

Monday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong published the innocuously titled “Coinbase Is a Mission-Driven Company.”

While the post talked a lot about Coinbase’s core mission, its real goal seemed to be to make clear Coinbase would not be engaging with any other social or political issues beyond that, and to the extent employees wanted to do so they needed to do it on their own time.

The reactions were intense, immediate and in many instances, totally opposite.

In this episode, NLW breaks down the entire social media reaction and the arguments for and against this policy.

See also: Coinbase Has Drawn a Line in the Sand for Its Activist Employees

For more episodes and free early access before our regular 3 p.m. Eastern time releases, subscribe with Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, Google Podcasts, Castbox, Stitcher, RadioPublica, iHeartRadio or RSS.

Note: The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of CoinDesk, Inc. or its owners and affiliates.

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