- Coinbase is “temporarily shutting down” its US affiliate program for influencers and publishers.
- In leaked emails shared with Insider, Coinbase said the US program will close on July 19.
- In those same emails, the company said it plans to relaunch the program in 2023.
Crypto exchange Coinbase is “temporarily shutting down” its US affiliate-marketing program, according to emails sent to three creators and shared with Insider.
The US program will temporarily shut down on July 19, the emails said.
“We regret to inform you that Coinbase will be temporarily shutting down its Affiliate Program in the United States with an effective date of Tuesday, July 19th,” the emails read. “This has not been an easy decision, nor was it made lightly, but, due to crypto market conditions and the outlook for the remainder of 2022, Coinbase is unable to continue supporting incentivized traffic to its platform.”
The company said in the emails that it planned to relaunch the program in 2023, although it didn’t share an exact timeline.
“We have established many valued partnerships through our affiliation platform that we hope to renew in the future,” the emails said.
This change comes at a time when Coinbase is reeling from the crypto crash.
On June 14, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced in a blog post that the company was laying off 18% of its staff, or roughly 1,100 employees. On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Coinbase is now the world’s 14th largest crypto exchange, down from the fourth position less than a year ago.
Before this recent affiliate news, Coinbase had already lowered commission rates for some influencers in June. One creator who was earning $40 per sign up as of early 2022 said they saw that amount drop more than 90% to $2 per sign up.
“My commissions are almost non-existent with them anymore so I haven’t paid attention,” said a fourth influencer who used the program.
Many personal-finance influencers earn revenue from affiliate marketing, or driving sales or sign ups to a platform.
These finance affiliate programs are run directly through the company or through an affiliate marketing network, like Impact or CJ Affiliate. Coinbase launched its affiliate marketing program in 2019. The program is run in partnership with Impact, which helps the company connect with influencers, manage rates, and track sign ups.
In response to request for comment about the affiliate marketing program, a Coinbase spokesperson wrote in an email:
“As shared in our Q1 Shareholder Letter, the majority of our marketing spend is oriented towards performance marketing. Affiliate marketing is one of many supplemental levers we employ to reach target audiences, and the temporary pause of the program is in no way indicative of a liquidity problem. As a publicly traded company, our strong balance sheet is transparent to the public. We look forward to working with many of our incredible partners and web3 creators in the future.”
This post has been updated with comment from Coinbase.
