Coinbase, a cryptocurrency trading firm that garnered attention for banning salary negotiations and political speech among employees in recent years, is testing another practice that has raised eyebrows internally: asking employees to frequently rate each other. Some employees at the company have been using a real-time evaluation app invented by Bridgewater Associates, the well-known hedge fund founded by Ray Dalio, which helped enforce a culture of “radical transparency” that encourages blunt honesty, according to two people with direct knowledge.
The app, Dot Collector, is sold by Principles, a company Dalio founded. Coinbase’s version lets employees evaluate co-workers, including their managers, on how well they exemplify the crypto firm’s 10 cultural tenets—which include clear communication, efficient execution and positive energy—during meetings and other interactions, these people said. After an interaction, an employee can give their colleague a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, or neutral rating.
