{"id":22353,"date":"2026-02-19T09:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/brian-armstrong-coinbase-is-misunderstood-amid-wall-streets-crypto-divide\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T09:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T09:13:12","slug":"brian-armstrong-coinbase-is-misunderstood-amid-wall-streets-crypto-divide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/brian-armstrong-coinbase-is-misunderstood-amid-wall-streets-crypto-divide\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian Armstrong: Coinbase is \u2018misunderstood\u2019 amid wall street\u2019s crypto divide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-detail__content blocks\">\n<p class=\"is-style-lead\">Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pushed back against what he described as Wall Street\u2019s persistent underestimation of the crypto exchange, arguing that the company is navigating a classic \u201cinnovator\u2019s dilemma\u201d as traditional finance grapples with digital asset disruption.<\/p>\n<div id=\"cn-block-summary-block_85e8f614668c51a66491018dca7df4a4\" class=\"cn-block-summary\">\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__nav tabs\">\n        <span class=\"tabs__item is-selected\">Summary<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n<div class=\"cn-block-summary__content\">\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The CEO argued Wall Street underestimates the company as crypto disrupts traditional finance, describing the moment as an \u201cinnovator\u2019s dilemma\u201d with roughly half of major institutions now leaning into digital assets.<\/li>\n<li>Coinbase reported 156% year-over-year trading volume growth, a doubling of market share in 2025, tripled assets over three years, and 12 products generating over $100 million in annualized revenue.<\/li>\n<li>Some X users questioned Armstrong\u2019s stock sales, security practices, product strategy and conviction in Ethereum, with one asking why he is not buying Coinbase shares if the company is truly undervalued.<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><!-- .cn-block-summary --><\/p>\n<p>In a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/brian_armstrong\/status\/2023901625589366789\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">post <\/a>on X following an analyst AMA session, Armstrong said Coinbase is often \u201cmisunderstood or under-appreciated\u201d by traditional financial analysts. While some major institutions are embracing crypto, others remain skeptical, he said, largely due to entrenched incentives within the legacy financial system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFive of the GSIB banks are starting to work with Coinbase,\u201d Armstrong wrote, adding that roughly half of large financial institutions are leaning into crypto as regulatory clarity improves. At the same time, he suggested that lagging firms view digital assets as a competitive threat \u2014 comparing crypto\u2019s rise to disruptions caused by Uber, Airbnb and SpaceX in their respective industries.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong argued that Coinbase and the broader crypto sector are in their strongest position yet, citing three years of revenue diversification and expanding institutional engagement. He also addressed recent earnings coverage, noting that GAAP net income includes unrealized gains and losses on crypto holdings. Adjusted net income, he said, showed profitability last quarter despite a weaker market environment.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Critics question Coinbase CEO\u2019s claims<\/h2>\n<p>The remarks drew sharp responses from some users on X. <\/p>\n<p>One critic argued that Coinbase appears \u201cmisunderstood\u201d in part because Armstrong continues selling shares, questioning why investors should hold the stock if the CEO is not buying it. The same user accused the company of failing to prioritize customer security, making questionable product decisions, and lacking conviction in the Ethereum ecosystem by selling accumulated Base sequencer fees rather than holding or staking ETH. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The blunt truth is a mixture of the following:    <\/p>\n<p>1) You keep dumping your stock non stop. Why would I believe it&#8217;s worth holding when you yourself seemingly can&#8217;t get rid of it fast enough? Once you stop dumping it I will begin to maybe consider it approaching fair value, and\u2026<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Kazuya (@Kazuya_888) <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Kazuya_888\/status\/2024084182326976826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">February 18, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p>Another user bluntly <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/T_W_O_A_S\/status\/2024107339524055148\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">asked<\/a>: \u201cWhy aren\u2019t you buying your own stock then if it is so misunderstood?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The company\u2019s latest Q4 and full-year figures highlighted significant growth metrics. Total trading volume rose 156% year-over-year, while Coinbase\u2019s crypto trading market share doubled in 2025. <\/p>\n<p>Assets held on the platform have tripled over the past three years, Armstrong said, and the firm now has 12 products generating more than $100 million in annualized revenue. Both USDC balances and Coinbase One subscriptions reached new all-time highs.<\/p>\n<p>Armstrong concluded that investors must be \u201cearly and right\u201d to generate alpha, suggesting Coinbase remains undervalued by traditional analysts as the financial system undergoes structural transformation.<\/p>\n<p>    <!-- .cn-block-related-link --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong pushed back against what he described as Wall Street\u2019s persistent underestimation of the crypto exchange, arguing that the company is navigating a classic \u201cinnovator\u2019s dilemma\u201d as&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22354,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22353"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22353\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22355,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22353\/revisions\/22355"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitunikey.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}