Coinbase

Coinbase Global, Inc.
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: COIN (Class A) S&P 500 component
ISIN	US19260Q1076
Industry	Cryptocurrency
Founded	June 2012; in San Francisco, California, United States
Founders	Brian Armstrong Fred Ehrsam
Headquarters	San Francisco
Area served	100+ countries
Key people	Brian Armstrong (Chair, CEO) Emilie Choi (President, COO) Alesia Haas (CFO)
Products	Cryptocurrency exchange services
Revenue	Increase US$6.56 billion (2024)
Operating income	Increase US$2.31 billion (2024)
Net income	Increase US$2.58 billion (2024)
Total assets	Increase US$22.5 billion (2024)
Total equity	Increase US$10.3 billion (2024)
Owner	Brian Armstrong (19%)
Members	108 million (2023)
Number of employees	3,772 (2024)
Website	coinbase.com
Footnotes	[2][3]

Coinbase Global, Inc. (commonly known as Coinbase) is a cryptocurrency exchange based in San Francisco, United States, North America. Founded in 2012, ¹the company was established by Brian Armstrong, a former Airbnb engineer, and Fred Ehrsam, a former Goldman Sachs trader.

Coinbase initially operated as a Bitcoin wallet before expanding its services to become one of the world’s largest ² cryptocurrency exchanges by 2021. The platform supports trading in multiple digital currencies and provides services for both retail and institutional investors across global markets.

As of 2024, Coinbase has over 105 million users worldwide, with approximately 10.8 million active monthly traders. The company’s valuation increased significantly alongside the rise in Bitcoin prices, growing from $14.4 billion in 2023 to $55.4 billion in 2024.³

It has over 100 million users and is the largest cryptocurrency exchange based in the United States, as of 2024, as well as the world’s largest custodian of Bitcoin. The company operates in more than 100 countries and manages approximately US$516 billion in assets, including nearly 12 percent of all existing Bitcoin and 11 percent of all staked Ether. ⁴

Coinbase is a decentralized company with no headquarters. As we have transitioned to a remote-first environment, we realized that we no longer have a headquarters located in any single city.⁵

History

2012–2019: Origins and Initial Growth

Coinbase was founded in June 2012 by Brian Armstrong, a former Airbnb engineer, and Fred Ehrsam, a former Goldman Sachs trader. Armstrong participated in Y Combinator and received US$150,000 funding. British programmer Ben Reeves was initially involved but left

due to differences over wallet operations. The company is named after Coinbase transactions, which introduce cryptocurrency into circulation.⁶  Coinbase launched its platform for buying and selling Bitcoin via bank transfers in October 2012. In 2015, the company expanded its offerings with the introduction of Coinbase Exchange. ⁷

In May 2013, Coinbase secured a US$5 million Series A investment led by Fred Wilson of Union Square Ventures. Later, in December 2013, the company raised an additional US$25 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, and Ribbit Capital. ⁸

In 2014, Coinbase reached one million users and expanded through acquisitions, including the blockchain explorer service Blocker and the web bookmarking company Kippt. The company secured insurance for bitcoin stored on its servers and launched the vault system for enhanced bitcoin storage security. During the same year, Coinbase partnered with Overstock, Dell, Expedia, Dish Network, and Time Inc. to facilitate bitcoin payments and integrated bitcoin payment processing with traditional payment platforms such as Stripe, Braintree, and PayPal. ⁹

In April 2014, Coinbase underwent a corporate reorganization, with Coinbase, Inc. becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of Coinbase Global, Inc. The principal assets of Coinbase Global, Inc. consist of equity interests in Coinbase, Inc. In addition to Coinbase, Inc., Coinbase Global, Inc. owns several subsidiaries, including CB Payments Ltd, a UK-based company providing fiat payment processing services to international customers, and Coinbase Custody Trust Company, LLC, a New York–chartered trust company authorized to hold crypto assets in trust for institutional clients.¹⁰

In January 2015, Coinbase secured a US$75 million investment led by Draper Fisher Jurvetson, the New York Stock Exchange, USAA, and several banking institutions. Later that month, the company launched Coinbase Exchange, a U.S.-based Bitcoin trading platform

¹Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, “Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute”, Achieved

²Battery Ventures, “Coinbase, a platform for accessing the crypto economy”, Achieved

³Business of Apps, “Coinbase Revenue and Usage Statistics (2025)”, Achieved, Retrieved November 2025

⁴Financial Data, “Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN)”, Achieved

⁵Coinbase Blogs, “Coinbase is a decentralized company, with no headquarters”, Achieved, Retrieved February 2021

⁶All My Opinion,“Coinbase Review ”, Achieved

⁷Business Model Zoo, “Coinbase”, Achieved

⁸Medium, “Post”,  Achieved, Retrieved December 2016

⁹Cypher Hunter, “Coinbase” Retrieved

¹⁰US Securities and Exchange Commission, “Official Statement”, Achieved

Designed for professional traders,¹¹ Coinbase expanded its global presence in September 2015 by launching retail Bitcoin services in Singapore and Canada, marking its first entry into Asia and broadening access to the digital currency.¹²

In November 2016, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a summons to Coinbase, requesting information on approximately 480,000 U.S. users who conducted transactions between January 2013 and December 2015, including account records, transactions, correspondence, and compliance reports.¹³

In January 2017, Coinbase obtained the BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services, authorizing its virtual currency operations and reinforcing its commitment to secure and compliant cryptocurrency services.¹⁴ In November of the same year, Coinbase was ordered by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to report users who had conducted transactions totaling at least US$20,000 within a single year.¹⁵

In December 2017, Coinbase launched an internal investigation into a Bitcoin Cash price spike that occurred prior to platform support, ensuring that employees—who were barred from trading—had not violated company policies regarding material nonpublic information.¹⁶

On February 28, 2018, Coinbase informed approximately 13,000 customers that it would comply with a court-ordered IRS summons in United States v. Coinbase, Inc.. The case, assigned to Magistrate Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley, concerned U.S. customers’ Bitcoin transactions from 2013 to 2015 and involved a “John Doe” summons aimed at identifying potential noncompliance.¹⁷

¹¹Juan Rodulfo, “Buy and Sell Bitcoin: COINBASE”, Achieved, Retrieved September 2021

¹²Reuters, “Coinbase launches retail bitcoin service in Singapore, Canada”, Achieved, Retrieved September 2015

¹³Singapore Institute of Accredited Tax Professionals, “CIT’s Widening Powers to Obtain Information, Understand The New Landscape And Know Your Rights”, Achieved, Retrieved January 2018

¹⁴Coinbase Blog, “Coinbase Obtains the Bitlicense”, Achieved, Retrieved January 2017

¹⁵Straits Times, “Coinbase loses bid to block US tax probe of bitcoin gains”, Achieved, Retrieved November 2017

¹⁶CNBC, “Coinbase to investigate insider trading claims after launch of bitcoin cash support”, Achieved, Retrieved December 2017

¹⁷Forbes, “Coinbase Notifies Customers That It Will Turn Over Court-Ordered Data”, Achieved, Retrieved February 2018

On March 5, 2018, Coinbase announced that Emilie Choi, formerly Vice President of Corporate Development at LinkedIn, would join the company as Vice President of Corporate and Business Development, focusing on acquisitions, global expansion, and strategic initiatives.¹⁸

On March 26, 2018, Coinbase announced its intention to add support for Ethereum ERC-20 tokens¹⁹ on the Ethereum blockchain. On April 5, 2018, Coinbase announced the formation of an early-stage venture fund, Coinbase Ventures, dedicated to investing in blockchain- and cryptocurrency-related companies. ²⁰On May 16, 2018, Coinbase Ventures announced its first investment in Compound Labs, a startup developing Ethereum-based smart contracts similar to money market systems.²¹

On May 23, 2018, Coinbase acquired the trading platform Paradex to expand its cryptocurrency offerings. Paradex’s peer-to-peer trading system was planned to integrate into Coinbase Pro, initially for non-U.S. customers, enhancing access to token trading options.₂₂ In August 2018, Amazon Web Services executive Tim Wagner joined Coinbase as Vice President of Engineering.²³

On October 23, 2018, Coinbase, in partnership with Circle, launched USD Coin (USDC), a fully collateralized stablecoin. Supported by the CENTRE Consortium, USDC enables fast, programmable, and globally accessible digital dollar transactions on the Ethereum blockchain.²⁴

On January 7, 2019, Coinbase temporarily suspended trading of Ethereum Classic after detecting a network attack that resulted in double-spending and blockchain reorganizations, affecting approximately 88,500 ETC, valued at around US$460,000 at the time.²⁵

¹⁸Tech Crunch, “Coinbase has hired LinkedIn’s M&A boss to spearhead new acquisitions”, Achieved, Retrieved March 2018

¹⁹Coinbase, “Adding ERC20 Support to Coinbase”, Achieved, Retrieved March 2018

²⁰CNBC, “Bitcoin exchange Coinbase launches early-stage venture fund”, Achieved, Retrieved April 2018

²¹Tech Crunch, “Coinbase’s first investment, Compound, earns you interest on crypto”, Achieved, Retrieved May 2018

²²CNBC, “Coinbase acquires trading platform Paradex in its latest move to dominate the crypto economy”, Achieved, Retrieved May 2018

²³Coinbase, “Welcome Tim Wagner, Coinbase’s New Vice President of Engineering”, Achieved, Retrieved August 2018

²⁴Coinbase, “Coinbase and Circle announce the launch of USDC — a Digital Dollar” Achieved, Retrieved October 2018

²⁵Tech Crunch, “Coinbase freezes Ethereum Classic trading following attack”, Achieved, Retrieved January 2019

In February 2019, it acquired Neutrino S.r.l., a blockchain intelligence platform. The founders were previously affiliated with Hacking Team, a company known for selling surveillance software to authoritarian governments, which caused reputational damage, customer losses, and increased costs.²⁶

On March 4, Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, said his company "did not properly evaluate" the deal from a due diligence perspective and thus any Neutrino staff who previously worked at Hacking Team "will transition out of Coinbase."²⁷

On May 30, 2019, Coinbase employees received spear-phishing emails from compromised University of Cambridge accounts, carefully crafted to appear legitimate and evade spam detection. On June 17, 2019, attackers sent a malicious link exploiting two Firefox zero-day vulnerabilities, enabling privilege escalation and sandbox escape to install malware on targeted systems. Within hours, Coinbase Security detected, blocked, and investigated the attack, identifying rapid weaponization of Firefox flaws and preventing broader compromise.²⁸

2020–2021: Shift to Remote-First Work and Initial Public Offering

On May 20, 2020, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced the company would adopt a remote-first model post-COVID-19, enabling employees to work ²⁹ remotely or in-office, aiming to embrace flexibility, attract global talent, and shape the future of work. Also in May, the company announced the acquisition of New York-based digital asset trading firm Tagomi for a price between US$75 and US$100 million.³⁰

In June 2020, Coinbase faced internal criticism when CEO Brian Armstrong initially declined to comment on Black Lives Matter, citing the company’s apolitical stance, but he later

²⁶US Security and Exchange Commision, “Official Statement” Achieved

²⁷Coinbase, “Living up to our values and the Neutrino acquisition”, Achieved, Retrieved March 2019

²⁸Coinbase, “Responding to Firefox 0-days in the wild”, Achieved, Retrieved August 2019

²⁹Coinbase, “Post COVID-19, Coinbase will be a remote-first company”, Achieved, Retrieved May 2020

³⁰Bloomberg, “Coinbase Expands Institutional Services With Tagomi Purchase”, Achieved, Retrieved May 2020

He later addressed the issue publicly on Twitter.³¹ In September 2020, Armstrong published a blog post stating that Coinbase would refrain from participating in social activism, arguing that such involvement had negatively impacted other technology companies like Google and Facebook. He also offered a severance package to employees who disagreed with this policy.³²

The company also faced complaints by employees saying they were treated unfairly due to their race or gender.³³ On November 25, 2020, Coinbase alerted employees that The New York Times planned to publish a negative story alleging issues faced by Black employees, providing context and reaffirming company commitments to inclusion and safety.³⁴

In October 2020, Coinbase announced the launch of a Visa debit card program.³⁵

In December 2020, internal data analysis revealed significant pay disparities at Coinbase, with women earning $13,000 less and Black employees $11,500 less than colleagues in comparable roles, exceeding typical gaps seen across the tech industry.³⁶

On March 5, 2021, Coinbase disclosed that some transactions were “under review” by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control for potential sanctions violations, following recent fines to BitGo and BitPay.³⁷ That same month, Coinbase announced that it was establishing a business presence in India and began hiring engineering, software development, and customer support roles in India, offering remote work options and planning a Hyderabad office to leverage the country’s top engineering talent.³⁸

³¹Wired, “The Turmoil Over ‘Black Lives Matter’ and Political Speech at Coinbase”, Achieved, Retrieved October 2020

³²Coinbase, “Coinbase is a mission focused company”, Achieved, Retrieved

³³ The New York Times, “Cryptocurrency Start-Up Underpaid Women and Black Employees, Data Shows”, Achieved

³⁴ Coinbase, “An upcoming story about Coinbase”, Achieved, Retrieved November 2020

³⁵ Forbes, “Coinbase’s Debit Card Starts A $30 Billion Crypto Payments War With PayPal”, Achieved, Retrieved October 2020

³⁶ The New York Times, “Cryptocurrency Start-Up Underpaid Women and Black Employees, Data Shows”, Achieved

³⁷ Compliance Week, “​OFAC crypto crackdown: Coinbase disclosures under review”, Achieved, Retrieved March 2021

³⁸ Economics Times, “IPO-bound Coinbase begins hiring in India”, Achieved, Retrieved March 2021

On April 6, 2021, Coinbase announced that its first-quarter revenue surged ninefold to an estimated $1.8 billion, with net income between $730 million and $800 million, fueled by a Bitcoin rally, as the company prepared for its April 14 Nasdaq direct listing.³⁹

On April 14, 2021, Coinbase’s COIN stock debuted on Nasdaq, with shares expected between $300–$350, valuing the crypto exchange at approximately $100 billion ahead of its April 6 first-quarter earnings call.⁴⁰ Before the listing, Nasdaq set a reference price of US$250 a share, giving the company an estimated value of US$47 billion. ⁴¹At the end of its first day of trading, it closed at $328.28, valuing the company at $86 billion amid market volatility. Analysts warned that increased competition could drive fees lower.⁴²

On May 10, 2021, Coinbase detailed a revamped compensation strategy to attract top talent, including increasing salaries and equity to the 75th percentile, removing negotiation disparities to ensure fairness, and linking future rewards to performance, impact, and career growth, promoting equity and transparency across the company.⁴³

On June 1, 2021, Coinbase Pro began accepting Dogecoin (DOGE) transfers in preparation for trading. DOGE trading officially commenced on June 3, 2021, subject to liquidity conditions, gradually enabling multiple trading pairs.⁴⁴

In September 2021, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly warned Coinbase that it could face legal action if it proceeded with launching its cryptocurrency lending product. Lend.⁴⁵ Subsequently, Coinbase canceled its planned crypto lending offering.

³⁹CNBC, “Coinbase estimates Q1 revenue jumped nine-fold to about $1.8 billion ahead of public market debut”, Achieved, Retrieved April 2021

⁴⁰NASDAQ, “Coinbase’s COIN Stock to Go Live on Nasdaq April 14”, Achieved, Retrieved April 2021

⁴¹South China Morning Post, “Coinbase’s impending US listing throws the spotlight on Nasdaq as bitcoin’s value soars to record”, Achieved, Retrieved April 2021

⁴²The Edge Singapore, “Race for lower commissions to impact Coinbase”, Achieved, Retrieved April 2021

⁴³Coinbase, “How Coinbase is rethinking its approach to compensation”, Achieved, Retrieved May 2021

⁴⁴Coinbase, “Dogecoin (DOGE) is launching on Coinbase Pro”, Achieved, Retrieved June 2021

⁴⁵Reuters, “U.S. markets regulator takes aim at Coinbase lending product”, Achieved, Retrieved September 2021

After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission threatened legal action, citing concerns that the USDC staking program constituted a security, the company discontinued the waitlist and halted the launch.⁴⁶

In November 2021, Coinbase announced its acquisition of Indian AI startup Agara for $40–50 million. Agara’s machine learning-powered customer support platform was expected to enhance Coinbase’s user experience, with its technology team, largely based in India, joining the company.⁴⁷

On December 15, 2021, cryptocurrency prices on Coinbase and CoinMarketCap briefly spiked erratically. Trading remained unaffected, but Coinbase continued investigating wallet-related issues. Both platforms confirmed that prices were subsequently corrected.⁴⁸

2022–2025: SEC Lawsuit, Dismissal, and Key Developments

On February 13, 2022, Coinbase aired a Super Bowl advertisement featuring a floating QR code, inviting viewers to sign up and receive $15 in free Bitcoin.⁴⁹ In the following month, March 2022, Coinbase blocked more than 25,000 Russia-linked cryptocurrency wallet addresses amid concerns they could be used to evade sanctions, citing illicit activity while maintaining that it would not ban all Russian users.⁵⁰

In April 2022, Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, launched its services in India as part of its expansion into emerging markets.⁵¹ The company initially used the Unified Payments Interface to enable rupee-to-cryptocurrency transactions but later

⁴⁶Tech Crunch, “Following SEC lawsuit threat, Coinbase cancels launch of ‘Lend’ product”, Achieved, Retrieved September 2021

⁴⁷Techcrunch, “Coinbase to acquire India’s Agara for over $40 million”, Achieved, Retrieved November 2021

⁴⁸Bloomberg, “Crypto Prices Go Haywire on Coinbase, CoinMarketCap.com”, Achieved, Retrieved December 2021

⁴⁹Adweek, “Coinbase's Super Bowl Ad Was Just a Floating QR Code on a Black Screen ”, Achieved, Retrieved February 2022

⁵⁰BBC News, “Crypto platform blocks thousands of Russia-linked wallets”, Achieved, Retrieved March 2022

⁵¹MEXC, “Coinbase officially returns to the Indian market after more than two years of hiatus”, Achieved, Retrieved

suspended UPI support following a statement from the National Payments Corporation of India stating it was unaware of any crypto exchange using UPI.⁵²

MARA is a Pan-African cryptocurrency exchange launched in May 2022, raising $23 million from global investors. It partners with the Central African Republic and offers wallet, exchange, and blockchain services.⁵³ In June 2022, Coinbase cut 18% of its workforce, about 1,100 employees, citing a potential recession, market downturn, and overexpansion during the crypto bull market, aiming to improve efficiency.⁵⁴

In August 2022, Coinbase partnered with BlackRock to provide Aladdin clients institutional access to crypto trading and custody via Coinbase Prime, enabling seamless Bitcoin exposure, advanced trading, custody, staking, and reporting within existing portfolio workflows.⁵⁵

In October 2022, Google partnered with Coinbase to allow select customers to pay for cloud services with cryptocurrencies and explore using Coinbase Prime for secure storage and trading of digital assets. Coinbase will also migrate some applications to Google Cloud.⁵⁶

In January 2023, Coinbase announced plans to cut about 950 jobs, roughly 20% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring amid the ongoing crypto downturn and industry challenges, marking its third round of layoffs. Citing the possibility of "further contagion" following the collapse of the FTX exchange, Brian Armstrong said Coinbase would be "shutting down several projects where we have a lower probability of success.⁵⁷

Base is an Ethereum Layer 2 (L2) blockchain network created by Coinbase and launched publicly in August 2023 to provide a secure, low-cost, developer-friendly environment for

⁵²Economics  Times, “Regulatory heat forces Coinbase to halt UPI payments in just three days”, Achieved, Retrieved April 2022

⁵³The Guardian, “MARA raises $23m to build Africa’s crypto economy portal”, Achieved, Retrieved May 2022

⁵⁴CNBC, “Coinbase lays off 18% of workforce as executives prepare for recession and ‘crypto winter’”, Achieved, Retrieved June 2022

⁵⁵Coinbase, “Coinbase selected by BlackRock; provide Aladdin clients access to crypto trading and custody via Coinbase Prime”, Achieved, Retrieved August 2022

⁵⁶CNBC, “Google selects Coinbase to take cloud payments with cryptocurrencies and will use its custody tool”, Achieved, Retrieved Oct 2022

⁵⁷NPR, “Coinbase lays off around 20% of its workforce as crypto downturn continues”, Achieved, Retrieved January 2023