Where is Coinbase headquartered?
If you had asked us a year ago, the answer would have been San Francisco. But almost nine months into becoming a remote-first company, and now with 52% of our employees having joined us in a post-office world, that answer no longer feels right. After we can safely return to in-person work, about 95% of our employees will still have the option to work at home, in an office, or a mix — whatever works best for them. We now have employees, many who originally worked in San Francisco, all over the country and world. Since January 2020, nearly 250 employees have relocated worldwide, and more than 150 have left San Francisco, representing about 21% of our global and 29% of our San Francisco workforce during that time.
While we will continue to provide offices for employees who prefer to work in them, designating one location as our headquarters feels counter to our culture. Forgoing a formal headquarters is also more in line with the spirit of crypto, built on the inherent benefits of decentralization. We don’t want to downplay any of the legal, compliance, or regulatory obligations that come with being based in the United States, or the benefits that come from operating in a country with America’s values, but elevating one specific office over any other office does not make sense for a remote-first Coinbase.
Here are a few observations we’ve had now that we have no official headquarters in one city: