Brian Armstrong (Coinbase): "We clearly see Europe as a growth market"

‍The Big Whale: You're in Abu Dhabi for Abu Dhabi Finance Week. What brings you here, and what specific opportunities do you see in the UAE?

Brian Armstrong: We're very excited to invest more in the UAE. The country has become a global hub for both financial services and technology more broadly.

We recently acquired Deribit (for $2.9 billion) which has 130 employees in the region. We work closely with the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Abu Dhabi's regulator, as well as Dubai's.

We prioritize countries with clear regulatory frameworks around crypto, and the UAE has been particularly innovative and forward-thinking on this front. They also champion principles of economic freedom, which aligns perfectly with Coinbase's mission.

Through Deribit, the UAE has become our international hub for derivatives, and we'll very likely strengthen our presence here further.

You're a global company. What's your view on Europe, particularly regarding economic freedom and market dynamism?

We clearly see Europe as a growth market. It's a region where we established ourselves early, particularly through our Luxembourg entity, which we work very well with. Europe has done an excellent job creating clear regulatory frameworks with MiCA. That's given us tremendous confidence to invest in the region. On that front, they've truly been leaders.

But there's always a balance to strike between regulation and freedom. Regulation brings clarity, but it shouldn't become over-regulation. Too many constraints discourage companies from investing and slow growth. The challenge is avoiding sacrificing innovation in the name of protection.

Where exactly do you draw the line between necessary regulation and economic freedom?

For me, it's fairly clear. Obviously, we need to prevent risks like fraud and punish them severely. That's essential and everyone agrees.

However, we shouldn't try to eliminate market risk. Market risk means most startups will fail. And that's healthy: you need 1,000 ideas to emerge for a chance to witness the next great company. If starting a startup becomes too complicated, they'll simply be created elsewhere.

The UAE's example is very interesting in this regard. They've set up a regulatory sandbox that allows startups to launch at very low cost in a controlled environment. Once they reach a certain size, they can apply for a full license.

That's extremely smart, because a young startup that's only raised one or two million euros can't afford expensive licenses and big law firms. This type of framework would be very useful in Europe as well.

Ten years ago, the crypto market was primarily retail. Today, we talk much more about B2B. How do you see this evolution?

Indeed, crypto has become both a consumer and institutional market, and the latter has seen spectacular growth.

This manifests primarily in two areas. First, trading and asset custody: more companies want to hold digital assets on their own balance sheets. And beyond crypto, all asset classes are gradually moving onchain - commodities, equities, prediction markets... Everything's migrating to blockchain. Tomorrow, companies will also want to raise funds directly on-chain.

The second driver is stablecoin payments. Cross-border B2B payments are probably one of the fastest-growing segments today. Coinbase plays a major role here: we enable companies to pay international suppliers, send invoices, and integrate these payments with their accounting and tax software.

As often with crypto, it's about modernizing financial infrastructure: making payments faster, cheaper, and truly global.

You're described as very product-oriented. How has the institutional pivot changed your approach?

In consumer markets, the product is absolutely central - it's the main interface, often the first user experience. Customer service only comes in when there's a problem, so rarely in a positive context.

In the institutional world, the product remains crucial, but two other pillars become critical: sales force and customer service. Human relationships are essential, even more so in crypto.

Sales cycles are also much longer. To give you an example, it took us three years to close a partnership with BlackRock.

Today, we work with some of the world's largest financial players - BlackRock, JPMorgan, PNC Bank, and soon Standard Chartered. We've developed real go-to-market expertise for this segment, capable of managing these long, complex cycles. And of course, the product must meet the same standards.

What's the biggest challenge in working with these large institutions?

Several factors come into play. First, corporate culture: human relationships are essential. Compliance is key, as is balance sheet strength.

Being a publicly traded company, audited by a Big Four firm, being a regulated custodian... all of this matters enormously. Regulatory due diligence is very thorough, and this level of rigor is what conditions their trust.

You've discussed with Larry Fink the convergence between TradFi and DeFi. What role do you see for Coinbase in this hybrid on-chain finance?

I think Coinbase can become the leader in tokenization. We've been doing it for a long time: stablecoins, wrapped assets like tokenized Bitcoin...

The model is simple: hold the underlying asset, then mint and burn tokens that represent it one-to-one. Trust is essential.

The other element is distribution. We have approximately $500 billion in crypto assets held on our platform. When players like BlackRock want to tokenize their funds, being able to distribute these products directly to our client base - both retail and institutional - is a major advantage.

We can provide the technology, custody, trust... but also an extremely powerful distribution channel.

You often talk about making Coinbase "the everything exchange." Concretely, what does that mean for banks and institutions?

The idea is simple: all asset classes will move on-chain. After crypto came stablecoins; tomorrow, equities, commodities, sovereign or corporate debt, perpetuals... absolutely everything will be traded on blockchain.

Why? Because it democratizes access, increases liquidity, reduces settlement risk, and drastically cuts operational costs. Banks and institutions will want to leverage these new crypto rails to make their operations more efficient. Coinbase wants to be their preferred partner.

Today, we already work with 264 institutions through our Coinbase Developer Platform (CDP), a white-label "crypto-as-a-service" offering.

We're constantly adding new building blocks. This infrastructure role places us at the heart of the value chain as more companies move on-chain.

For 2026, what are the most exciting areas for you?

We have a major product event on December 17 that will reveal a lot. But if I had to summarize the major trends, I'd highlight three pillars:

– the "everything exchange,"

– stablecoin payments,

– BASE, which isn't just a layer 2 but also an application, Base App. I like to say that Coinbase represents our centralized services, while Base represents our decentralized ones.

How do you see integration between Coinbase and major financial players?

We're increasingly collaborating with them through our infrastructure offerings. Providing our own liquidity pools allows us to deploy our services in many countries much faster. This facilitates client onboarding and integration of innovative features. Our goal: become the crypto infrastructure layer that traditional finance can build on.

Over the next three to five years, what will be the biggest fundamental shift in the crypto industry?

All asset classes moving on-chain. It's a structural shift. Stablecoin payments, in particular, still have enormous potential.

Today, approximately 0.5% of global GDP flows through crypto rails for purchasing goods and services. In ten years, that could reach 10%, even 15%. The development opportunity is immense.

Finally, BASE will remain a major focus: the ecosystem we're building around this layer 2 will play a central role in on-chain adoption.

You've been in the ecosystem for a long time. Does Bitcoin remain unique?

Yes, Bitcoin is truly unique. It's digital gold: a scarce asset with the highest level of trust. In times of uncertainty, people turn to bitcoin.

Bitcoin is also an asset of freedom. We live in a world of permanent deficits: when these become excessive, they lead to high inflation. In those moments, Bitcoin acts as a counterbalance.

It's a new gold standard, but native to the digital world. Sound money is an essential foundation for progress. If your currency can be continuously devalued, you have no incentive to invest in the future. Bitcoin brings that stability everywhere in the world.