Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase (COIN) announced Tuesday that it will be cutting its workforce by 18%, according to an 8-K filed by the company. The move comes amid investor concerns about the U.S. economy and as the value of crypto assets have dropped by 25% in the last month.

CEO Brian Armstrong noted that the move to lay off 1,100 employees of its roughly 6,000-person staff was driven by a need to manage Coinbase’s burn rate and increase efficiency. But it was also motivated by what Armstrong predicted would be a possible recession that will contribute to a "crypto winter" where trading activity would decline.

“While it’s hard to predict the economy or the markets, we always plan for the worst so we can operate the business through any environment,” said Armstrong, noting that the abundance of uncertainty made cutting his workforce necessary to reduce what he said were higher labor costs at Coinbase.

Beyond wider fears of a recession, nearly $200 billion in cryptocurrency value was lost in recent days as investors retreated over fears of a possible recession in the near future.

Emblematic of this selloff is the depleted value of bitcoin. At one point during trading on Monday, bitcoin fell to its lowest point since December 2020, briefly hovering around only $20,000 in value.

These losses have since recovered somewhat. As of 11:30 p.m. ET, bitcoin was trading at about $22,403.45.

Coinbase’s struggles come as it and other firms are also struggling under the current economic pressures that are weighing down the wider cryptocurrency markets.

Coinbase’s shares have declined over 80% since this time last year. Meanwhile, crypto lender Celsius was forced to halt withdrawals because of "extreme market conditions."

As of 11:33 p.m. ET, Coinbase was trading at $51.42, down $0.59, or 1.14%.

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