Tetragrammaton with Rick Rubin Brian Armstrong
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Dec 24, 2025 
Brian Armstrong, co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, dives into his transformative experience living through hyperinflation in Argentina, shaping his views on financial systems. He shares his journey from discovering Bitcoin to creating Coinbase and its challenges in fundraising. Armstrong discusses the role of stablecoins in global payments, Bitcoin's volatility, and the evolving landscape of decentralized finance. He also touches on the future of AI in finance, his vision for NewLimit in longevity research, and the importance of regulatory frameworks for innovation.
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From White Paper To Weekend Prototype
- Brian Armstrong discovered Bitcoin after reading the white paper and attending chaotic early meetups in San Francisco.
- He and a college friend built an open-source mobile Bitcoin wallet prototype that revealed product shortcomings and led to the idea of cloud-backed services.
Payments Are A Patchwork Problem
- Global payment rails are a patchwork of monopolies producing high fees and opacity.
- Bitcoin promised a global, low-friction rail for moving value like the internet did for information.
Start Small To Learn Fast
- Action produces information: build an imperfect version to learn what to fix next.
- Use early feedback to discover the right product direction instead of waiting for perfection.