The cryptocurrency exchange will lay off roughly 20% of its workforce
The dark cloud that has settled over Coinbase Global Inc (NASDAQ:COIN) and other crypto-related stocks may budge today. The cryptocurrency exchange announced it will lay off 950 employees, or roughly 20% of its workforce, in what constitutes its third round of job cuts since last year. The move comes as part of the company's restructuring plan, which is expected to acquire $149 million to $163 million in expenses.
Last seen up 2.4% at $39.19, Coinbase Global stock is fresh off a Jan. 6, all-time low of $31.55. Today's bull gap helped the security briefly conquer the $40 region, which had been acting as a celling for shares since mid-December. Over the last 12 months, the stock has shed 83%.
This underperformance has caught the eye of short sellers. Short interest is up 22.4% in the last two reporting periods, and the 38.49 million shares sold short make up 21.9% of COIN's available float.
Short-term options traders remain optimistic. This is per the security's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 0.75 sits higher than 8% of readings from the past year, suggesting these traders have rarely been more bullish.
Drilling down to today's options activity, 17,000 calls and 16,000 puts have crossed the tape so far, which is double the intraday average volume. The most popular contract by far is the soon-to-expire weekly 1/13 40-strike call.