Brian Armstrong, born in San Jose, California, is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, which he launched in 2012 with Fred Ehrsam. A Y Combinator alumnus, Armstrong grew up in a middle-class family and earned a B.A. in Economics and Computer Science from Rice University in 2005, followed by an M.S. in Computer Science in 2006.

Before founding Coinbase, he worked as a software engineer at Airbnb developing anti-fraud tools and founded UniversityTutor.com, an online tutoring marketplace. Under his leadership, Coinbase went public via direct listing in 2021, reaching a $100 billion valuation. As of 2025, it serves over 110 million users with a market cap around $60 billion.

A Forbes-listed billionaire with a net worth of approximately $10 billion, Armstrong is a vocal advocate for clear crypto regulation. He founded the Stand With Crypto PAC in 2023 to support pro-crypto politicians, promotes decentralized identity solutions, and has pledged 99% of his wealth to charity through the Giving Pledge.

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Brian Armstrong Links:

X -⁠ https://x.com/brian_armstrong⁠

LI -⁠ https://linkedin.com/in/barmstrong⁠

Coinbase -⁠ https://coinbase.com⁠

Blog -⁠ https://blog.coinbase.com/author/brian-armstrong⁠

Stand With Crypto -⁠ https://standwithcrypto.org

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049: Back to Basics: Contexts