Coinbase Hiring Policy Is Changing Due To North Korean Threat, But Is It Legal?

Coinbase is preparing to reorient its business operations towards the US over North Korean hackers. This includes mandating in-person orientation and restricting certain roles to US citizens only.

These policies, especially the latter one, may cause material problems or flagrantly violate federal law. There are many unanswered questions, especially regarding the rationale for these changes.

Coinbase’s New US Policies

North Korean hackers are causing a growing fear in the crypto community, especially because of the infiltration problem. DPRK-based teams are applying for jobs in Web3 IT roles, enabling massive thefts.

To combat this rising trend, Coinbase is taking a radical approach to reorient its workforce towards the US.

According to a new report from Business Insider, Coinbase’s new US focus involves some truly monumental changes. Although the company has been remote-focused for several years, all workers must now visit the US in-person to attend employee orientation.

Additionally, “access to sensitive systems” will now require American citizenship and fingerprint scans.

On one hand, this sort of drastic action is very in-character for CEO Brian Armstrong. Just yesterday, he gave an interview describing how he “went rogue” and used “heavy-handed” methods to internal AI adoption at a breakneck pace. This involved waves of sudden firings.

Coinbase’s new US policies seem in line with this behavior.

Potential Issues and Unanswered Questions

Still, this will cause a ton of problems. For one thing, it is becoming increasingly difficult to travel to the US for work purposes under President Trump.

A new set of “Discretionary Factors” from the Department of Homeland Security may bar Coinbase employees from attending orientations in the US.

Moreover, this policy causes problems at both ends. Noncitizen employees already residing in the US still couldn’t work in certain company roles, which is explicitly illegal under federal law:

“The law forbids discrimination when it comes to any aspect of employment, including hiring, firing, pay, job assignments, promotions, layoff, training, fringe benefits, and any other term or condition of employment. The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA) makes it illegal for an employer to discriminate… based upon an individual’s citizenship or immigration status,” the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states.

Is the threat of North Korean hackers really that dire? Leaked documents revealed that these infiltrators don’t try to appear too convincing, believing that flimsy hiring practices indicate weak backend security.

To name one example, cybersecurity experts have lampooned North Korean resumés featuring ridiculous names like “Clark Pickles”:

In other words, Coinbase’s new US policy seems like an overreaction. North Korean infiltration could even be a simple pretext for measures the firm wanted to execute beforehand. After all, President Trump has a stated “America First” agenda, and Coinbase has significant ties with his administration.

For now, there are many unanswered questions and problems to address. It’s unclear how this situation will develop or how Coinbase will implement these measures.