Coinbase’s co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong is looking far beyond exchanges and wallets — he’s imagining a business world that begins and ends on the blockchain.
During a recent appearance on the TBPN Podcast, Armstrong described what he believes could be the next great transformation in global entrepreneurship: a system where every milestone of a company’s life — from registration to public trading — happens onchain.
A New Corporate Model
Rather than filing paperwork or waiting for bank transfers, Armstrong envisions founders launching their startups through blockchain smart contracts that handle incorporation, fundraising, and distribution of capital in stablecoins like USDC.
In his words, this would make the entire creation and funding process “instant and borderless,” replacing the current reliance on traditional intermediaries with code-driven transparency. Under such a system, a company could raise funds, receive capital within minutes, and begin operations without ever leaving the digital economy.
He believes this model could unlock an explosion in innovation: more founders, more investors, and fewer barriers standing between an idea and its execution.
From Fundraising to Tokenized Ownership
At the heart of Armstrong’s plan is the idea that blockchain technology can democratize access to early-stage capital. He criticized the current venture capital structure as slow, exclusive, and limited to a privileged network of insiders.
Coinbase’s acquisition of Echo, a blockchain fundraising platform, plays directly into this strategy. Echo has already enabled hundreds of projects to secure over $200 million, and it will now serve as a launchpad within Coinbase’s growing ecosystem. The integration is designed to connect new builders with Coinbase’s global investor base and institutional custody services, giving them the infrastructure needed to scale quickly.
Armstrong said Coinbase wants to serve as “the meeting ground for creators and capital,” positioning the platform as both an exchange and an accelerator for blockchain-native startups.
Rethinking the Rules of Investment
Armstrong also touched on a long-standing friction point: U.S. securities law. He argued that accredited investor rules — which limit who can participate in early funding rounds — are outdated and unfair. Coinbase, he noted, is in active discussions with regulators about how to expand onchain fundraising access while maintaining investor protections.
His proposal would open early equity or tokenized shares to a broader audience, creating what he called “a more open, equitable model of global entrepreneurship.”
The Bigger Picture: Coinbase’s Onchain Economy
This vision aligns with Coinbase’s ongoing shift toward becoming an infrastructure company rather than just an exchange. Its Base layer-2 network has become the centerpiece of that plan, drawing praise from major institutions.
JPMorgan recently upgraded Coinbase’s stock, estimating that Base could generate up to $34 billion in new opportunities across DeFi, tokenized assets, and onchain finance. The bank’s analysts suggested Coinbase’s share of that value could exceed $10 billion, highlighting how deeply the firm is now embedded in the next phase of blockchain growth.
For Armstrong, however, the numbers only tell part of the story. His long-term goal is to make the blockchain a home not just for trading crypto, but for building companies themselves — a world where entrepreneurship becomes as frictionless and borderless as the technology powering it.
If that vision materializes, Coinbase won’t just be an exchange — it could be the foundation of a new economic era, one where every business is, quite literally, born onchain.
