Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Poaches Ex-DOGE Talent in Public Recruitment Gambit
Armstrong throws open the doors—and the checkbook—for Dogecoin’s displaced devs. ’Join us,’ he tweets, dangling Silicon Valley stability over meme-coin chaos.
Move reeks of opportunism—or genius? Coinbase scoops up crypto’s free agents while the market bleeds. Bonus jab: Wall Street still thinks DOGE is a joke, but at least now it’s a tax-deductible one.
DOGE days
Armstrong’s statements roughly two weeks after Elon Musk sought to distance himself from DOGE amid protests.
"It is funny that we’ve got DOGE," Musk said during a Cabinet meeting held at the WHITE House on April 30.
"Doesn’t the absurdity of that seem, like, like, are we in a simulation here or what’s going on? But, like, it was a meme coin at one point," Musk said, bemused. "How did we get here?"
Musk, along with Vivek Ramaswamy, led DOGE after TRUMP signed an executive order on January 20, officially renaming the United States Digital Service as the United States DOGE Service (USDS). Since official government departments can only be established through an act of Congress, its full name, the Department of Government Efficiency, is something of a misnomer.
DOGE’s goal was to reduce federal spending by $2 trillion by eliminating unnecessary agencies and programs. To date, DOGE claims to have saved $170 billion, though news organizations have called into question “discrepancies” in its reporting, noting that as of its most recent update on May 11, only $70.9 billion of its reported savings are itemized.
Staffed mostly by young tech-savvy operatives, DOGE faced scrutiny early on due to security issues, the hack on Ramaswamy’s X account, and unauthorized access to the Treasury. In January, Musk claimed that DOGE was exploring blockchain-based tech.
Coinbase and Trump
Armstrong’s invitation to ex-DOGE staffers comes as Coinbase has become increasingly open about its political stance.
The company spent over $70 million backing Trump-friendly crypto PACs in 2024.
Coinbase joined other crypto companies and venture capital firms to back Trump, with an estimated total of $300 million in crypto money shifting American politics.
In January, Coinbase welcomed Trump’s campaign co-manager Chris LaCivita to its advisory board after Trump’s inauguration.
Soon after, the SEC dropped a slew of lawsuits against crypto firms, including Coinbase’s in February.
Decrypt has reached out to Coinbase for comments about Armstrong’s invitation and will update this article should it respond.
