Coinbase Shares Drop After Disclosure on AI Code Shipping

Coinbase shares fell after markets opened Tuesday following an internal disclosure that non-technical staff using AI are shipping production code. The stock slid about 5% to $196.21 as customers and traders reacted.

The note appeared in a company message tied to a layoff announcement in which CEO Brian Armstrong wrote that engineers have used AI to speed development and that “non-technical teams are now shipping production code.”

Armstrong posted on X that the company does not allow untested code to go live and that all AI-generated code undergoes “rigorous human reviews.” He added, “No one is vibe coding directly to production. We’re increasing speed of shipping and innovation, while continuing to raise the bar on security.”

Users responded on social media by threatening to move funds off the platform and by raising security concerns that referenced a May 2025 data breach.

In May 2025, attackers bribed overseas customer support contractors to access internal tools. Data tied to 69,461 customers, fewer than 1% of monthly active users at the time, was taken. Exposed items included names, emails, phone numbers, home addresses, dates of birth, masked Social Security and bank numbers, government ID images, and account balances.

Coinbase reported that passwords, private keys and customer funds were not accessed. The company refused a $20 million ransom demand, offered a matching bounty for information leading to arrests and estimated remediation costs up to $400 million. The breach led to multiple class-action lawsuits.

Some affected customers say they continue to receive phishing attempts and harassment after their information was exposed. One user wrote, “Not your keys, not your coins. But the whole ‘non-technical teams are shipping production code’ is… kind of scary.” Another posted, “Non technical teams are now shipping production code genuinely terrifying lol, already had my data leaked enough before this.”

Coinbase noted that Prime accounts were untouched and that it will reimburse customers impacted by earlier incidents. The company described the change as a productivity effort, saying AI has allowed engineers to deliver work faster and automate workflows while keeping review controls in place.

The stock decline followed customer backlash and trading pressure. It remains unclear how many customers will move assets from the exchange after the disclosure.