A day after Coinbase slashed 14% of its workforce in what CEO Brian Armstrong framed as a full-scale pivot to an “AI-native” operating model, the focus has now shifted to one of the most vulnerable groups caught in the crossfire: Indian employees, both those based in India and those working in the US on employer-sponsored visas.
The layoffs, which affect roughly 700 people across the company, came with immediate access revocation. No transition period, no phased exit. Armstrong acknowledged in his company-wide email that the approach would feel “sudden and harsh,” but called it the only responsible choice given Coinbase’s obligation to protect customer data.
For employees on US work visas, particularly those on H-1B sponsorship, that sudden exit carries consequences that go well beyond losing a paycheck.
The severance package
According to Armstrong’s email, US-based employees who are let go will receive a minimum of 16 weeks of base pay, plus an additional two weeks for every year they have worked at the company. The package also includes their next scheduled equity vest and six months of COBRA health insurance coverage.
That 16-week floor is slightly better than what Coinbase offered during its previous rounds of layoffs in June 2022 and January 2023, when the minimum was 14 weeks.
For employees outside the United States, including those in India, Coinbase said packages would be comparable but adjusted based on local laws and consultation requirements. Specific numbers for Indian employees have not been disclosed.
Armstrong also confirmed that employees on work visas would receive “additional transition support,” though he did not elaborate on what that support entails. That vagueness is the part that is causing the most anxiety right now.
Coinbase’s India footprint
Coinbase has a sizable presence in India. The company operates teams in Bengaluru and Hyderabad, with roughly 101 and 97 employees respectively, based on the most recent workforce data available. The exchange first announced its India hiring plans back in 2022 when it opened its Hyderabad office, making it one of its earliest international hubs outside the US.
These India-based employees are largely in engineering, customer support, and compliance roles. While their layoff terms will follow Indian labor law, the more pressing concern is around Indian nationals who relocated to the United States on Coinbase-sponsored H-1B or L-1 visas.
The 60-day visa clock
This is where the situation gets particularly difficult for Indian workers in the US.
Under current US immigration rules, H-1B holders who lose their jobs get a grace period of up to 60 days to either find a new employer willing to sponsor a visa transfer, change their visa status, or leave the country, as per the Economic Times report. That grace period is discretionary, not guaranteed, and USCIS can shorten or deny it.
The H-1B transfer process is not subject to the annual lottery cap, which means a new employer can file a transfer petition at any time. But the process still requires a Labor Condition Application from the Department of Labor, a Form I-129 petition to USCIS, and, realistically, a job offer from a company that is both hiring and willing to sponsor.
In a crypto market that is currently down, with Bitcoin having dropped over a third from its October 2025 peak above $126,000 and Coinbase itself reporting a $667 million net loss in Q4 2025, the number of crypto-native companies actively sponsoring visas is not exactly growing. That narrows the window even further.
Immigration attorneys have been advising affected workers to begin their job search and legal consultations immediately. The 60-day period is a hard deadline, and waiting even a few weeks can make the difference between staying in the country and being forced to leave.
For those with families on dependent H-4 visas, the stakes are even higher. Spouses and children on H-4 are tied to the primary H-1B holder’s status. If the primary holder falls out of status, the entire family does.
The bigger picture
Coinbase expects to spend between $50 million and $60 million on severance costs, according to an SEC filing made on Tuesday. Most of those charges will land in the second quarter of 2026.
The structural overhaul attached to these layoffs goes beyond headcount reduction. Armstrong is capping management layers at five below the CEO and COO, eliminating pure management roles, and pushing the company toward what he calls “AI-native pods,” where small teams or even single individuals handle engineering, design, and product responsibilities using AI tools.
Mizuho Securities analyst Dan Dolev told Bloomberg that the crypto downturn is likely the main driver behind the cuts, and that the AI narrative is being used partly as cover.
This is not the first time Coinbase has made deep cuts. The exchange laid off approximately 1,100 people in June 2022 and another 950 in January 2023 during the last crypto winter. But this round comes at a time when the company is also riding several major milestones. Coinbase joined the S&P 500 in May 2025, completed its $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit in August 2025, and received conditional OCC approval for a federal trust charter in April 2026.
For India’s crypto and tech workforce, the layoffs are another reminder that the global tech retrenchment is far from over. And for those on US work visas, the clock is already running.
Also Read: Stolen DAI Ends Up on Coinbase — Now It’s a Court Battle
