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    Fed’s Bowman says there’s ‘a lot more work to do’ to bring down inflation

    Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Tuesday she expects more interest rate increases ahead, with higher rates to prevail for a while until inflation is subdued.
    “I expect that once we achieve a sufficiently restrictive federal funds rate, it will need to remain at that level for some time,” she said.

    Federal Reserve Bank Governor Michelle Bowman gives her first public remarks as a Federal policymaker at an American Bankers Association conference In San Diego, California, February 11 2019.
    Ann Saphir | Reuters

    Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman said Tuesday she expects more interest rate increases ahead, with higher rates to prevail for a while until inflation is subdued.
    “I am committed to taking further actions to bring inflation back down to our goal,” the central bank official said in remarks prepared for a speech in Florida. “In recent months, we’ve seen a decline in some measures of inflation but we have a lot more work to do, so I expect the [Federal Open Market Committee] will continue raising interest rates to tighten monetary policy.”

    The FOMC has increased the Fed’s benchmark borrowing rate seven times since March 2022, for a total of 4.25 percentage points.
    Last week, minutes from the committee’s December meeting indicated that most members were on board with additional hikes in 2023, likely taking the fed funds rate slightly above 5%.
    Reflecting the consensus at that meeting, Bowman said she sees elevated rates holding until there are “compelling signs that inflation has peaked and for more consistent indications that inflation is on a downward path” before easing up on restrictive monetary policy.
    “I expect that once we achieve a sufficiently restrictive federal funds rate, it will need to remain at that level for some time in order to restore price stability, which will in turn help to create conditions that support a sustainably strong labor market,” she said.
    Policy will be guided by incoming economic data for indications of how Fed policy is impacting growth, she added.

    Bowman spoke the same day as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell addressed the Fed’s Swedish counterpart, the Riksbank. In that speech, Powell stressed the need for the Fed to remain independent of political influences as it carves out policy aimed at bringing about stable prices.
    Bowman drew upon past experience, noting the mistakes the Fed made in the 1970s, when it raised rates to address inflation but then lowered them when the economy slowed. She said she understands that Fed policy could slow the economy and in particular the labor market, but insisted that doing nothing carried higher costs.
    “It’s important to keep in mind that there are costs and risks to tightening policy to lower inflation, but I see the costs and risks of allowing inflation to persist as far greater,” Bowman said.

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    ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ and Disney were the box office leaders in an otherwise soft 2022

    Paramount and Skydance’s “Top Gun: Maverick” was the highest-grossing domestic release in 2022, generating $719 million in ticket sales.
    Disney was the highest-grossing studio domestically, tallying $2 billion from “Avatar,” “Black Panther” and “Doctor Strange” sequels.
    The domestic box office total reached an estimated $7.5 billion in 2022, down around 34% compared to 2019, before the pandemic.

    Tom Cruise in “Top Gun: Maverick”
    Source: Paramount

    “Top Gun: Maverick” was the highest grossing theatrical release in 2022, but its $719 million haul wasn’t enough to make its studio, Paramount, ruler of the domestic box office.
    The Tom Cruise-led action film was a juggernaut, generating $719 million in ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada, the most of any film released in 2022, according to data from Comscore. It also accounted for more than half of Paramount’s overall domestic haul for the year.

    Other releases, including “The Lost City,” “Smile,” “Scream” and “Sonic the Hedgehog 2,” pushed Paramount’s 2022 box office to around $1.3 billion, the third-highest haul for studios, Comscore reported.
    Ultimately, “Maverick” represented around 10% of the total $7.5 billion in domestic ticket receipts collected last year. That domestic total is down around 34% compared to 2019, before the pandemic.
    While the “Top Gun” sequel topped the charts as the highest-grossing film of the year, it is Disney that ultimately wears the 2022 box office crown.
    The company, which includes 20th Century Studios, tallied around $2 billion at the domestic box office thanks to several Marvel Studios pictures and James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which is still pulling in big bucks after its mid-December release.
    Disney films represented nearly 27% of all box office revenue domestically in 2022, with three of its releases earning spots in the top five highest-grossing films of the year and four of the top 10.

    North America’s 2022 box office champions

    Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick — $719 million
    Disney’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — $436 million
    Disney’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” — $411 million
    Disney’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” — $401 million
    Universal’s “Jurassic World: Dominion” — $377 million
    Universal’s “Minion: The Rise of Gru” — $370 million
    Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” — $369 million
    Disney’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” — $343 million
    Paramount’s “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” — $191 million
    Warner Bros.’ “Black Adam” — $168 million

    Franchise films, always popular, were the strongest draw for cinemas after pandemic restrictions were lifted. In fact, all of 2022’s 10 highest-grossing films were based on existing intellectual property.
    Universal had the second-highest market share for studios domestically, accounting for 22% of box office receipts in 2022, or around $1.65 billion. “Jurassic World: Dominion” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru” were its biggest ticket sellers, but the studio’s tally was also bolstered by several horror films including “Nope,” “The Black Phone” and “Halloween Ends.”
    Warner Bros. had the fourth-highest market share, just behind Paramount, accounting for around 12.5% of ticket sales. “The Batman,” “Black Adam,” “Elvis” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” contributed to its nearly $940 million total.
    The fifth-highest market share was Sony, which started the year strong following the late 2021 release of “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” a collaboration with Disney. “No Way Home” collected $241 million in ticket sales in 2022. Sony also had releases like “Uncharted,” “Bullet Train” and “Where the Crawdads Sing,” which contributed to its around $870 million in receipts, nearly 12% of the total 2022 box office.
    Last year was “a year of realignment and recovery for movie theaters,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.
    While ticket sales have rebounded, there were significantly fewer films released in theaters in 2022, which resulted in a lower annual box office.
    Industry experts like Dergarabedian are encouraged by the more robust 2023 slate of films, which includes several blockbuster features as well as low-to-mid-tier budget movies. Expectations are high for a handful of Marvel and DC superhero films alongside an increase in family-friendly fare.
    Movies like Warner Bros.’ “Barbie,” Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” and Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” are just some of the hotly anticipated features coming in 2023.
    “The journey ahead promises to be a much more consistent and robust year for the big screen,” Dergarabedian said.
    Disclosure: Comcast is the parent company of NBCUniversal and CNBC.

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    Powell says Fed might have to make unpopular decisions to stabilize prices

    Fed Chairman Jerome Powell noted that stabilizing prices requires making tough decisions that can be unpopular politically.
    In other remarks, the central bank leader said the Fed is “not, and will not be, a ‘climate policymaker.'”

    Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday emphasized the need for the central bank to be free of political influence while it tackles persistently high inflation.
    In a speech delivered to Sweden’s Riksbank, Powell noted that stabilizing prices requires making tough decisions that can be unpopular politically.

    “Price stability is the bedrock of a healthy economy and provides the public with immeasurable benefits over time. But restoring price stability when inflation is high can require measures that are not popular in the short term as we raise interest rates to slow the economy,” the chairman said in prepared remarks.
    “The absence of direct political control over our decisions allows us to take these necessary measures without considering short-term political factors,” he added.
    Powell’s remarks came at a forum to discuss central bank independence and were to be followed by a question-and-answer session.
    The speech did not contain any direct clues about where policy is headed for a Fed that raised interest rates seven times in 2022, for a total of 4.25 percentage points, and has indicated that more increases likely are on the way this year.
    While criticism of Fed actions by elected leaders is often done in quieter tones, the Powell Fed has faced vocal opposition from both sides of the political aisle.

    Former President Donald Trump ripped the central bank when it was raising rates during his administration, while progressive leaders such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., have criticized the current round of hikes. President Joe Biden has largely resisted commenting on Fed moves while noting that it is primarily the central bank’s responsibility to tackle inflation.
    Powell has repeatedly said that political factors have not weighed on his actions.
    In another part of Tuesday’s speech, he addressed calls from some lawmakers for the Fed to use its regulatory powers to address climate change. Powell noted that the Fed should “stick to our knitting and not wander off to pursue perceived social benefits that are not tightly linked to our statutory goals and authorities.”
    While the Fed has asked big banks to examine their financial readiness in case of major climate-related events such as hurricanes and floods, Powell said that’s as far as it should go.
    “Decisions about policies to directly address climate change should be made by the elected branches of government and thus reflect the public’s will as expressed through elections,” he said. “But without explicit congressional legislation, it would be inappropriate for us to use our monetary policy or supervisory tools to promote a greener economy or to achieve other climate-based goals. We are not, and will not be, a ‘climate policymaker.'”
    The Fed this year will launch a pilot program that calls for the nation’s six biggest banks to take part in a “scenario analysis” aimed at testing institutions’ stability in the event of major climate events.
    The exercise will take place apart from the so-called stress tests that the Fed uses to test how banks would fare under hypothetical economic downturns. Participating institutions are Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo.

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    Capella Space raises $60 million from fund run by billionaire entertainment exec Thomas Tull

    San Francisco-based satellite imagery specialist Capella Space raised $60 million from the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund of billionaire Thomas Tull.
    The latest raise brings Capella to about $250 million in total equity and debt financing since its founding in 2016.
    Capella has seven satellites in orbit currently, with its next-generation Acadia satellites “lined up” to launch this year.

    A satellite image taken at night on Nov. 14, 2022 of NASA’s Artemis I mission before launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
    Capella Space

    San Francisco-based satellite imagery specialist Capella Space raised $60 million in fresh capital, the company announced Tuesday.
    Capella raised the equity from the U.S. Innovative Technology Fund, a recently established private investment vehicle of billionaire Thomas Tull. The investor is best known for his work in the film industry, having started the production studio Legendary Entertainment behind blockbuster movies such as “Dune” and “The Dark Knight.”

    Capella is the fund’s first space investment, Tull told CNBC.
    “It’s the combination of the best available imaging that we’re aware of … and other data tools” for analysis, Tull said, adding, “If you’re going to take a ton of images from space, you better be able to sort through them.”
    The latest raise brings Capella to about $250 million in total equity and debt financing since its founding in 2016. The company declined to disclose its valuation after the new fund-raise.
    “I’ve never celebrated any fundraisings that we’ve done – it was always sort of the thing that needed to happen for us to do other important things – and this is similar but, as you know, the market is crazy. So I think it validates all the good things that we’ve been doing, when [we] can raise capital from quality investors like Thomas,” Capella founder and CEO Payam Banazadeh told CNBC.

    This video shows the Capella-3 satellite’s reflector deployment, using the its boom as a “selfie stick”. The reflector is folded and compact as it reaches space and expands to a 3.5 meter diameter object.
    Capella Space

    Capella’s business is focused on the satellite imagery market, with its satellites using a specialized technology known as synthetic aperture radar, or SAR. The advantage of SAR is its ability to capture images at any time, even at night or through cloud cover – which is often an impediment for traditional optical satellite tech.

    Sign up here to receive weekly editions of CNBC’s Investing in Space newsletter.

    The company has grown its head count to just over 200 people – nearly doubling in size last year – and has seven satellites currently in orbit. While Banazadeh declined to specify how many more satellites Capella plans to deploy in orbit, he said, “we have quite a bit” of its next-generation Acadia satellites lined up to launch this year.
    “There is more demand than there is supply, and that’s a good problem to have,” Banazadeh said.
    The company doubled the volume of imagery it collected year over year, but revenue growth continues to be Banazadeh’s “north star.”
    “We’re super focused on market adoption, and therefore revenue is the metric that we use … we had exceptional growth in 2022 … and we expect similar growth in ’23,” he said
    Capella has also brought on a trio of executives: Chad Cohen joined as chief financial officer from Adaptive Biotechnologies; tech consultant Glen Elliott came on as chief human resources officer; and Paul Stephen, formerly of Zillow Group, joined as chief information security officer.
    Correction: Glen Elliott is joining Capella as chief human resources officer. An earlier version misspelled his name. Paul Stephen is joining the company as chief information security officer. An earlier version misstated his title. Capella’s head count is just over 200 people. An earlier version mischaracterized the number.

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    Babies R Us attempts comeback, plans to open store at American Dream mall in New Jersey

    Babies R Us, which went out of business in 2018, will open a new flagship store at the American Dream megamall in New Jersey.
    The baby product retailer and its sister company Toys R Us were acquired by WHP Global, a brand management firm, in 2021.
    WHP Global hopes the new flagship will kick off a national rollout of the failed brand.

    A shopping cart sits in the parking lot at a Babies “R” Us store on January 24, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois.
    Scott Olson | Getty Images

    Babies R Us is trying to make a comeback. 
    The baby product retailer, which went out of business in 2018, will open a new flagship store this summer at the American Dream megamall in New Jersey, its new owners announced Tuesday.

    “Since acquiring both the Babies R Us and Toys R Us brands in 2021, our mission has been laser-focused on bringing them back to America,” Yehuda Shmidman, CEO of WHP Global, said in a news release. WHP Global, a brand management firm, owns the retailer’s parent company, Tru Kids. 
    “Our plan to open Babies R Us at American Dream in the coming months is a huge milestone in the return of Babies R Us to the U.S.A., and it sets the stage for a national rollout of Babies R Us in the future,” Shmidman said.
    American Dream, which has had its own struggles, is located near MetLife Stadium, about 10 miles outside New York City.

    American Dream megamall and entertainment complex in East Rutherford, N.J. After more than 17 years in the making, it finally opened October 25, 2019. Then came the coronoavirus pandemic.
    Timothy A. Clary | AFP | Getty Images

    Since acquiring Tru Kids in 2021, WHP Global has been on a mission to bring the beloved Toys R Us and Babies R Us brands back to life. 
    In 2021, Macy’s announced a partnership with WHP Global to open 400 new Toys R Us outposts inside their department stores across the country and sell their products online. 

    A new Toys R Us flagship was opened later that year, also at American Dream. 
    The famed toy and baby retailer filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2017 after Tru Kids struggled to pay off its 12-year-old debt and compete with rising e-commerce platforms. 
    The brand failed to restructure itself in 2018 after a crippling 2017 holiday season and moved forward with liquidation, closing over 800 stores and selling inventory at up to 95% discounts. 
    The new Babies R Us outpost will be a “one-stop-shop for all things baby,” the company said. In addition to the typical line of merchandise, it will offer customers a range of interactive experiences, including a stroller test track, photo-op station and a wishing tree. 
    The flagship will also bring back the brand’s baby registry lounge, nursery design center with room set displays, learning center and a comfort zone for feeding or changing a baby.
    — CNBC’s Melissa Repko contributed to this report.

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    Bed Bath & Beyond reports wider-than-expected loss as possible bankruptcy looms

    Bed Bath & Beyond on Tuesday posted wider quarterly losses than it projected just last week.
    It reported a negative operating cash flow of $307.6 million for the period.
    CEO Sue Gove said the company had aggressively cut costs and was on track to close the 150 stores it had previously announced it would shutter.

    A man is seen at a Bed Bath & Beyond store in New York, on Jan. 5, 2023.
    Ziyu Julian Zhu | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

    Bed Bath & Beyond on Tuesday posted wider quarterly losses than expected as its chief executive acknowledged that the struggling retailer’s turnaround plan had not achieved its goals.
    Days after the company warned of potential bankruptcy, it reported a negative operating cash flow of $307.6 million for the third quarter and ballooning net losses.

    Bed Bath lost $393 million during the period, it said Tuesday, worse even than the $385.8 million quarterly loss it projected just last week and 42% larger than the loss it reported in the year-ago quarter.
    The quarterly losses include an approximately $100 million impairment charge, which the company said Tuesday was related to “certain store-level assets.”
    CEO Sue Gove said Tuesday the company was working to address its cascading financial problems in a “timely manner.”
    Here’s how the retailer did in the three-month period that ended Nov. 26 compared with what analysts were anticipating, based on Refinitiv data:

    Loss per share: $3.65 adjusted vs. $2.23 expected
    Revenue: $1.26 billion vs. $1.34 billion expected

    The company’s net loss grew to $393 million, or $4.33 per share, from a loss of $276 million, or $2.78 per share a year ago.

    Comparable sales dropped by 32%. Namesake banner Bed Bath & Beyond’s comparable sales dropped by 34% and Buybuy Baby’s comparable sales declines were in the low-20% range.
    Last week, the company previewed its net sales for the fiscal third quarter and said they were expected to be about $1.26 billion — a decline from $1.88 billion in the year-ago period.
    That pre-announcement from the home goods retailer, which is fighting to stay in business, came alongside a “going concern” warning. In the filing, it said it is at risk of running out of money to cover expenses and may have to file for bankruptcy. It said that it is struggling to attract customers to stores and turn around declining sales.
    Plus, the company said, it has gotten harder to keep shelves stocked as suppliers adjust payment terms or stop sending goods because of Bed Bath’s financial troubles. The company’s market value has fallen to a meager $142.8 million.
    “Although we moved quickly and effectively to change the assortment and other merchandising and marketing strategies, inventory was constrained and we did not achieve our goals,” Gove said in Tuesday’s release.
    Still, she said, the retailer has aggressively cut costs and is on track to close the 150 stores that it had previously announced. Its operating expenses have dropped to $583.6 million, compared with $698 million last year.
    “Our organization is more streamlined and we have adopted a more focused infrastructure that reflects our current business,” Gove said.
    The retailer includes three banners: its namesake, its baby supplies chain, Buybuy Baby; and its health and beauty banner, Harmon.
    This story is developing. Please check back for updates.

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    Stocks making the biggest moves premarket: Oak Street Health, Frontline, Boeing and more

    A Boeing 737 MAX 8 sits outside the hangar during a media tour of the Boeing 737 MAX at the Boeing plant in Renton, Washington.
    Matt Mcknight | Reuters

    Check out the companies making headlines in premarket trading.
    Oak Street Health – Shares of Oak Street Health surged 36% after a Bloomberg report that CVS is exploring options to buy the health care company for more than $10 billion. CVS stock ticked down about 0.5% on the news.

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    Frontline –The shipping stock surged more than 24% in premarket trading after Frontline announced that it was terminating its combination with Euronav. Frontline CEO Lars Barstad said that both companies “are already enjoying economies of scale.”
    CureVac – CureVac shares jumped 19% after the company said it plans further patient trials of its mRNA vaccines for Covid-19 and the flu. The company also announced that Sanofi veteran Alexander Zehnder will become CEO in April.
    Boeing — The aerospace giant fell more than 2% after Morgan Stanley downgraded Boeing to equal weight from overweight, citing a lack of potential upside from current levels. “We see a balanced risk reward as the majority of the near- and medium-term positive catalysts for the stock have been realized,” Morgan Stanley said in a note.
    Norwegian Cruise Line – Shares dropped 3.3% after a downgrade to underweight from equal weight by Morgan Stanley, which cited concerns over how overcapacity could hurt pricing power. Meanwhile, the firm upgraded competitor Royal Carribean, which added 0.3% in the premarket, to equal weight from underweight.
    Coinbase – Coinbase shares last traded flat after rising slightly premarket on news that it plans to cut 20% of its workforce. The move marks the second major round of cuts as the company looks to trim costs after hitting expansion mode during the bull market.

    Sotera Health – Shares soared more than 58% in the premarket after the company announced its subsidiaries came to agreements to settle more than 870 cases relating to the exposure of ethylene oxide, a carcinogen, from its Willowbrook facilities. Sotera agreed to pay $408 million and said the settlement is not an admission that the emissions posed a safety hazard.
    Bumble — Bumble popped more than 2% after KeyBanc upgraded the dating app stock to overweight from sector weight, noting: “The competitive environment appears stable, and economic pressures are easing.”
    Virgin Orbit — The company’s stock tumbled 19% after Virgin Orbit’s satellites launched from British soil fell short of their target orbit. “While we are very proud of the many things that we successfully achieved as part of this mission, we are mindful that we failed to provide our customers with the launch service they deserve,” CEO Dan Hart said.
    — CNBC’s Samantha Subin, Alexander Harring, Jesse Pound and Michelle Fox contributed reporting

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    Coinbase to slash 20% of workforce in second major round of job cuts

    Coinbase is cutting a fifth of its workforce following an 18% staff reduction in June.
    CEO Brian Armstrong pointed to recent pressure on the crypto sector thanks to “unscrupulous actors in the industry,” referring to bankrupt exchange FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. 
    “The FTX collapse and the resulting contagion has created a black eye for the industry,” Armstrong says, adding that there’s likely more “shoes to drop.”

    Brian Armstrong, co-founder and chief executive officer of Coinbase Inc.
    David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images

    Coinbase is cutting about a fifth of its workforce as it looks to preserve cash during the crypto market downturn.
    The exchange plans to cut 950 jobs, according to a blog post published Tuesday morning. Coinbase, which had roughly 4,700 employees as of the end of September, already slashed 18% of its workforce in June citing a need to manage costs and growing “too quickly” during the bull market.

    “With perfect hindsight, looking back, we should have done more,” CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC in a phone interview. “The best you can do is react quickly once information becomes available, and that’s what we’re doing in this case.”
    Coinbase said the move would result in new expenses of between $149 million and $163 million for the first quarter. The layoffs, along with other restructuring measures, will bring Coinbase’s operating expenses down by 25% for the quarter ending in March, according to a new regulatory filing. The crypto company also said it expects adjusted EBITDA losses for the full year to be within a prior $500 million “guardrail” set last year.
    After looking at various stress tests for Coinbase’s annual revenue, Armstrong said, “it became clear that we would need to reduce expenses to increase our chances of doing well in every scenario” and there was “no way” to do so without reducing head count. The company will also be shutting down several projects with a “lower probability of success.”
    Cryptocurrency markets have been rocked in recent months following the collapse of one of the industry’s biggest players, FTX. Armstrong pointed to that fallout, and increasing pressure on the sector thanks to “unscrupulous actors in the industry” referring to FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. 
    “The FTX collapse and the resulting contagion has created a black eye for the industry,” he said, adding there’s likely more “shoes to drop.”

    “We may not have seen the last of it — there will be increased scrutiny on various companies in the space to make sure that they’re following the rules,” Armstrong said. “Long term that’s a good thing. But short term, there’s still a lot of market fear.” 
    Cryptocurrencies have suffered alongside technology stocks as investors flee riskier assets amid a broader economic downturn. Bitcoin is down 58% in the past year, while Coinbase shares are off by more than 83%.

    End of a growth era

    Coinbase joins a chorus of other tech companies cutting jobs after going on a hiring binge during the Covid pandemic. Last week, Amazon said it would cut 18,000 jobs, more than the online retailer initially estimated last year, while Salesforce reduced its head count by more than 7,000, or 10%. Elon Musk slashed about half of Twitter’s workforce after taking the helm as CEO last year, and Meta cut more than 11,000 jobs, or 13%. Crypto companies Genesis, Gemini and Kraken have also reduced their workforces. 
    “Every company in Silicon Valley felt like we were just focused on growth, growth, growth, and people were almost using their headcount number as a symbol of how much progress they were making,” Armstrong said. “The focus now is on operational efficiency — it’s a healthy thing for the ecosystem and the industry to focus more on those things.”
    Early last year, Coinbase had said it planned to add 2,000 jobs across product, engineering and design. Armstrong said he’s now trying to shift the culture at Coinbase to “get back to its start-up roots” of smaller teams that can move quickly. 
    Coinbase went public in April 2021 and has seen its share price plummet since. The stock is trading below $40 after surging to $341 in its public debut. Coinbase debt that’s maturing in 2031 continues to trade at roughly 50 cents on the dollar. The company still had cash and equivalents of roughly $5 billion as of the end of September. 
    Coinbase said it would email affected employees on their personal accounts, and revoke access to company systems. Armstrong acknowledged the latter “feels sudden and harsh” but “it’s the only prudent choice given our responsibility to protect customer information.”
    Despite the industry’s domino effect of bankruptcies and a marked drop in trading volume, Armstrong was steadfast in arguing that the industry isn’t going away. He said the demise of FTX would ultimately benefit Coinbase, as its largest competitor is now wiped out. Regulatory clarity may also emerge, and Armstrong said it “validates” the company’s decision of building and going public in the U.S. The CEO likened the current environment to the dot-com boom and bust.
    “If you look at the internet era, the best companies got even stronger by having rigorous cost management,” he said. “That’s what’s going to happen here.” More