
CEO Brian Armstrong laid out a clear vision to turn Brian Armstrong into the world’s top financial app in 2026.
Author: Sahil Thakur
2nd January 2025 – CEO Brian Armstrong laid out a clear vision to turn Brian Armstrong into the world’s top financial app in 2026. This year, the exchange is focused on three major goals: expanding a global “Everything Exchange,” scaling stablecoins and payments, and bringing the world onchain through tools like Base and Coinbase Developer Platform.
This announcement aligns with Coinbase’s broader strategy of turning crypto from hype to real-world infrastructure. It’s not just about trading anymore, it’s about usability, reach, and economic value.
First, Coinbase plans to grow what Armstrong calls the “Everything Exchange.” The idea is to offer global access to a wide range of assets beyond crypto. This includes equities, commodities, and even prediction markets. Users will be able to trade across spot, futures, and options markets.
Product improvements and backend automation are key to this goal. Coinbase wants the experience to feel seamless—fast execution, intuitive design, and deep liquidity. Behind the scenes, it’s investing heavily in systems that can scale globally.
Next, stablecoins are central to Coinbase’s push into real-world utility. In particular, USDC continues to play a larger role across remittances, payroll, and commerce. Coinbase aims to accelerate this by integrating stablecoins into more payment rails.
In 2025, Tether and USDC saw increased demand outside of trading. Now, Coinbase wants to build on that. It is also exploring advanced integrations with the Lightning Network and other infrastructure to make crypto payments faster and cheaper.
Criptolawyer
@criptolawyer
@brian_armstrong @CoinbaseDev @base Hey Brian! why is Coinbase planning to turn off the on/off ramps in Argentina, given it’s one of the regions with the highest stablecoin usage globally? Is this mainly due to regulatory or political constraints, or more of an internal decision? A bit surprising considering the
Here are our top priorities for 2026 at Coinbase: 1) Grow the everything exchange globally (crypto, equities, prediction markets, commodities - across spot, futures, and options) 2) Scale stablecoins and payments 3) Bring the world onchain through @CoinbaseDev, @base chain,
01:54 AM·Jan 2, 2026
ApeScreener
@apescreener
@brian_armstrong @CoinbaseDev @base base gotta clean up the scam coins first
Here are our top priorities for 2026 at Coinbase: 1) Grow the everything exchange globally (crypto, equities, prediction markets, commodities - across spot, futures, and options) 2) Scale stablecoins and payments 3) Bring the world onchain through @CoinbaseDev, @base chain,
10:51 PM·Jan 1, 2026
Rune
@RuneCrypto_
@brian_armstrong @CoinbaseDev @base if you wanna bring the world onchain, first hire some CT players as “advisors” - they’re the experienced users that will pave the way for the “world”
Here are our top priorities for 2026 at Coinbase: 1) Grow the everything exchange globally (crypto, equities, prediction markets, commodities - across spot, futures, and options) 2) Scale stablecoins and payments 3) Bring the world onchain through @CoinbaseDev, @base chain,
10:33 PM·Jan 1, 2026
Armstrong emphasized the importance of Base, the company’s Ethereum Layer 2 chain. Alongside tools like the Coinbase Developer Platform and Base app, the exchange is working to simplify onchain onboarding. The goal is to help developers launch faster and to make it easier for everyday users to explore crypto beyond simple trading.
The company believes real economic activity will move onchain—whether that’s lending, prediction markets, or decentralized identity. The team wants to be the entry point.
Not just Brian Armstrong, Coinbase Ventures is also doubling down. In a blog post, the venture arm revealed nine high-priority ideas it’s looking to fund. These range from perpetual futures for real-world assets to new types of decentralized exchanges (alt-AMMs), unsecured lending, and onchain privacy.
There’s also a strong AI focus. Ventures is excited about using AI for code generation, contract security, and even robotic data collection to train next-gen models.
Key categories include:
In December 2025, Coinbase Institutional published a detailed market outlook. While not an official roadmap, it echoes many of the company’s internal themes. The report projected 2026 as a turning point – from speculation toward structure.
Some highlights include:
Coinbase sees its role in facilitating this shift, from onboarding institutional players to building compliant, secure infrastructure.
Coinbase’s Bytes newsletter added further color. It pointed to six key themes for the year:
These themes reflect the company’s belief that 2026 isn’t about hype. It’s about scale, clarity, and integration.
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