Coinbase CEO: Platform Still Undervalued, Crypto Industry Is Directly Disrupting Wall Street

February 18, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong took to social media to address the question: “Why is Coinbase always misunderstood or underestimated by Wall Street?” He stated: “I do think Coinbase is a misunderstood company—this is a classic ‘innovator’s dilemma.’ On one hand, the savviest traditional financial institutions are fully embracing the crypto industry. Five Global Systemically Important Banks (GSIBs) have already partnered with Coinbase, and many large financial firms are hiring crypto talent. As regulations become clearer, roughly 50% of major financial institutions are actively leaning into this trend. On the other hand, the other half are still lagging and resisting. The world’s most disruptive innovations have followed a similar pattern—think Uber, Airbnb, self-driving tech, AI applications, or SpaceX’s impact on NASA. Since the crypto industry directly disrupts Wall Street, it’s no surprise some on Wall Street misunderstand crypto and Coinbase. The smart ones will embrace it; the laggards will be left behind.” Coinbase and the crypto industry have never been in a stronger position than they are now. For investors to generate excess returns, they need to be “early and right.” Coinbase remains undervalued—a view not yet consensus among traditional analysts. I’d suggest focusing on what the company commits to doing and whether it delivers, rather than just whether analyst models predict a “beat” or “miss.” Also, our GAAP net income includes unrealized gains and losses on our held crypto assets, so it’s important to look at adjusted net income too (even in a bear market, we were profitable last quarter—some media reports got this wrong).