Coinbase
Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2012. It operates consumer trading, custody and onchain products and is frequently compared with neobanks that add crypto features, though its core licence set is exchange and custody rather than a full retail bank.1
History
Coinbase launched as an easy on-ramp to bitcoin and grew into one of the largest US-listed crypto platforms. It expanded into staking, NFT tooling, Base (an L2 network) and institutional custody.
Founders
Brian Armstrong is co-founder and chief executive officer of Coinbase. A former Airbnb engineer and entrepreneur, Armstrong co-founded Coinbase in 2012 to make buying and storing bitcoin as simple as online banking. He has led Coinbase through its growth into a major U.S.-listed crypto exchange (NASDAQ: COIN), institutional custody, staking products and the Base Layer-2 network.
Fred Ehrsam is co-founder of Coinbase. A former Goldman Sachs foreign-exchange trader, Ehrsam partnered with Armstrong on Coinbase's early product and market strategy before later co-founding crypto venture firm Paradigm. Their combination of engineering and markets expertise helped establish Coinbase as a mainstream on-ramp to digital assets.
Reception
Coinbase is the most visible U.S.-listed crypto exchange and a primary fiat on-ramp. Debit and spending experiments overlap neobank features, but regulation, listings and custody remain its core public narrative.
Products
Consumer apps for spot trading and wallets, Coinbase Prime for institutions, custody, and developer tooling. Debit and spending products have appeared in partnership with card networks and banks in selected markets.
References
- Coinbase Global, Inc. is a publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange and custody provider.
Frequently asked questions
- What is Coinbase?
- Coinbase is an American cryptocurrency exchange and custody platform with consumer and institutional products.
- When was Coinbase founded?
- Coinbase was founded in 2012.
- Where is Coinbase headquartered?
- Coinbase is headquartered in San Francisco, U.S..
- Who founded Coinbase?
- Coinbase was founded by Brian Armstrong, Fred Ehrsam.
- What type of company is Coinbase?
- Coinbase is described as Public (NASDAQ: COIN) in its neobank.wiki profile.
See also
- Airwallex — Airwallex is an Australian-founded business fintech for global accounts, payments and spend management.
- Alex Johnson — Alex Johnson is the founder of Fintech Takes, a widely read fintech newsletter and podcast; he is active on X as @AlexH_Johnson.
- Alexandre Prot — Alexandre Prot is co-founder and CEO of Qonto, the Paris-based European business neobank.
- Ali Niknam — Ali Niknam is founder and CEO of Bunq, the Amsterdam-based licensed Dutch neobank.
- Ally Bank — Ally Bank is a large U.S. online bank offering deposits, loans and investment products without branches.