Office address: 1090 Dr. Maya Angelou Lane, Mission Rock, San Francisco, CA 94158
Website: coinbase.com
Year established: 2012
Company type: financial services
Employees: 4,200+
Expertise: cryptocurrency trading, staking, safekeeping, crypto payments, global transfers, onchain infrastructure, regulatory compliance, institutional services, digital asset custody, crypto advocacy
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Brian Armstrong (CEO), Emilie Choi (COO), Alesia Haas (CFO), L.J. Brock (chief people officer), Paul Grewal (chief legal officer), Gregory Tusar and Max Branzburg (VPs)
Financing status: corporation
Coinbase is a public company based in San Francisco, known for its large remote-first team and global reach. The firm serves more than 100 countries and has over 4,200 people, offering trading, staking, and global transfers of crypto assets, among others. Its mission is to give over a billion people more economic freedom by providing secure crypto infrastructure and supporting onchain innovation.
Coinbase Global, Inc. was founded in June 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. Armstrong was a former Airbnb programmer, while Ehrsam worked as a trader at Goldman Sachs.
They wanted to make buying and storing bitcoin simple for everyone. Their shared vision set the stage for what would become one of the world’s most recognized crypto companies.
The platform’s easy-to-use design helped it grow quickly in its first years. At first, users could only buy and sell bitcoin using bank transfers.
In 2013, Coinbase caught the attention of major investors and secured $25 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Ribbit Capital. This was one of the largest investments in a crypto firm at the time.
The company expanded its offerings by adding new cryptocurrencies and services for both individuals and institutions. By 2017, the crypto market was booming and bitcoin’s price soared to $19,000.
It became one of the busiest platforms as millions of new users joined. In April 2021, Coinbase made headlines by going public on Nasdaq under the ticker COIN, marking a milestone for the crypto industry.
After years as a remote-first company, Coinbase made news again in 2025 by leasing 150,000 square feet in San Francisco’s Mission Rock. This move came four years after closing its original headquarters at 430 California St. The new office is now the company’s largest, though it remains committed to a decentralized and remote-first approach.
Coinbase offers a broad suite of crypto products for individuals, businesses, and institutions. The platform is recognized for secure infrastructure, wide asset selection, and advanced tools for retail and professional users:
Coinbase is also known for strong compliance, global reach, and support for both new and experienced crypto users. The company provides strong security features and continues to expand its digital asset offerings.
Coinbase states that its culture is shaped by its mission to boost global economic freedom and guide daily choices. Below are specific principles and behaviors that they value:
According to Coinbase, its work environment challenges people to excel and rewards those who meet high standards. It also offers:
Coinbase describes itself as apolitical and focused on its mission, avoiding unrelated activism at work. The company states most roles are remote-first, with some in-person events to encourage collaboration. High expectations for results are set, and top performers receive strong rewards, while underperformance leads to a generous severance.
Brian Armstrong is the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase. He also co-founded NewLimit, a company focused on increasing human healthspan using epigenetic reprogramming.
Before these roles, Armstrong worked as a technical product manager at Airbnb. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from Rice University.
Here are some of the key people leading Coinbase:
The leadership team is focused on increasing economic freedom worldwide and supporting Coinbase’s global mission.
In 2025, Coinbase played a central role in challenging the SEC’s lawsuit, which accused the company of running an unregistered securities platform. The case began in 2023 as part of a wider regulatory crackdown after the FTX collapse. By defending its business model and winning a likely dismissal, the firm helped set a possible example for resolving future regulatory disputes.
The company also supported its users by joining a Supreme Court challenge against the IRS’s demand for customer data. The firm resisted the summons as long as possible to protect user privacy before complying with the court order. This shows its ongoing efforts to balance regulatory demands with its clients’ privacy, which remains important as digital asset oversight evolves.
Robo-advisers could be entryways for new market participants to gain access to crypto investing, while advocates wait for regulators to make a decision on a Bitcoin exchange-traded fund.
Hype from retail and institutional investors on digital assets isn’t enough to sway skeptical advisers who are weighing the risk and reward of crypto before adding the asset class to clients' portfolios.
The actively managed fund is expected to be available as soon as this summer, and NYDIG will be the custody provider.
The cryptocurrency fell by as much as 15% Sunday, after hitting a record high of more than $64,000 last week, and rival coins like Ether and XRP also plunged.
Bitcoin hit a record of more than $64,000 as Coinbase Global Inc., the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, went public last week. Advisers and Wall Street have reached an inflection point when it comes to cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase introduces millions of people to the world of digital assets, pushing financial advisers to surf the crypto wave before it crests. Some advisers are still skeptical.
ETF issuers are betting en masse that U.S. regulators will green-light a fund tracking the largest cryptocurrency.
Fintech providers are partnering up to provide more crypto options for advisers to include digital assets in their portfolio management services.
Makara is an SEC-approved robo-adviser gearing up to provide investors automated services with a focus on cryptocurrencies. The product will charge a combination of a 1% management fee plus an annual fee.
The company's proposed exchange-traded fund would track the cryptocurrency using pricing from U.S.-based exchanges including Bitstamp, Coinbase and Gemini.
Morgan Stanley's plans to offer funds that will enable ownership of Bitcoin puts pressure on its competitors to go down a similar route. The company is the first major U.S. bank with plans to give its wealthiest clients exposure to cryptocurrencies.
Advisers don’t have to join the bulls, but they better join the discussion.
They may not be "hodling" by the end of the episode, but you'll learn not only some of the basics, but interesting details, why it works and whether crypto ETFs make any sense.
We look at the big news, announcements and underlying trends in the world of technology solutions for financial advisers and wealth management!
Despite claims the digital currency can act as a haven in down markets, cryptocurrency investments have tanked in recent weeks
