Coinbase’s Armstrong Declares War on Legacy Finance—Vows to Dominate Global Financial Apps
Brian Armstrong isn’t mincing words—Coinbase aims to dethrone every banking app, fintech unicorn, and sluggish legacy platform. The crypto exchange’s CEO just threw down the gauntlet in a move that’s equal parts ambitious and borderline delusional (Wall Street analysts are already rolling their eyes).
No more ’crypto niche’ excuses. Armstrong’s playbook? Leverage regulatory wins, swallow market share, and out-innovate incumbents still using fax machines metaphorically—or literally.
One problem: the ’top financial app’ throne is currently occupied by apps that... you know, actually work during bull runs without crashing. Game on.
Coinbase eyes banks as future clients, not enemies
Right now, Coinbase serves both regular people and big players. On top of its Core exchange, it has rolled out services like stablecoin payments, staking, and institutional custody. Brian said more than 200 major institutions use these features, including BlackRock, Stripe, and PayPal.
The timing is no accident. Over the past two months, US regulators have started to ease up on crypto. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency just gave the green light for banks it oversees to offer crypto services. That decision comes right after the Federal Reserve and the FDIC made similar moves, reversing warnings they gave out last year.
With President Donald TRUMP back in the White House and regulatory pressure easing, Brian said old institutions are now racing to figure out how to plug into the space.
Congress is also getting ready to pass legislation focused on stablecoins, which WOULD clear the path for banks to offer more crypto-related products. In February, Brian Moynihan, CEO of Bank of America, said the bank could issue a stablecoin if regulation allows it.
Brian said it’s only a matter of time. “We think that every major bank is going to be integrating crypto at some point,” he said. He explained that Coinbase can be the engine behind that. “For some of them, it’s a custodial solution. Others are interested in having a stablecoin solution.”
He also said some banks want to make their own stablecoins, but he thinks that’s a bad idea. “Our view is that that’s not necessarily the best path because stablecoins have network effects,” Brian said. He added that for a stablecoin to really work, it needs to be usable across multiple institutions. That’s not possible if every bank tries to create its own version.
Stablecoins are now Coinbase’s second biggest source of income after trading. In the first quarter of this year, stablecoin-related revenue went up 50% compared to the same time last year. From the last quarter alone, it increased by 32%.
The growth came mainly from USDC, which Coinbase helped create. The company has a 50% revenue-sharing deal with Circle, the stablecoin’s issuer, and takes all the interest from USDC products on its platform.
Brian said his “stretch goal” is for USDC to become the top stablecoin globally. Right now, Tether’s USDT holds that title. “If you can get shared economics, I don’t see why we wouldn’t see more of these banks partnering with USDC,” Brian said. He said even if banks don’t want to fully commit to USDC, they can still use Coinbase to support their back-end infrastructure.
“Regardless, we at Coinbase can help power infrastructure for all these folks that are coming into the industry,” Brian said.
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