From Programmer to Crypto Billionaire: Who Is Brian Armstrong?

Key points

• Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of the American cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase.
• Following the company’s IPO, his wealth ran into the billions of dollars.
• Armstrong promotes political neutrality at Coinbase unless issues directly concern the crypto industry.

Early years

Brian Armstrong was born on January 25, 1983, in San Jose, California. In 2005 he graduated from Rice University in Texas with a bachelor’s degree in economics and computer science. A year later he earned a master’s in computer science.

Armstrong began his career as a developer at IBM and a consultant at Deloitte. In 2011 he joined Airbnb as a software engineer. Explaining his interest in cryptocurrencies, in a Forbes piece he described transferring money to Latin America:

“High fees… long delays… lack of transparency. We were trying to send money to someone in Uruguay and didn’t know how much would reach the other side.”

A year earlier Armstrong had come across the Bitcoin white paper, and later bought coins worth $1,000 (at $9 apiece). In 2012 he joined the Y Combinator accelerator with a prototype of a cryptocurrency service.

Founding Coinbase

In March 2012 Armstrong posted on Hacker News seeking a co-founder, describing his project as “PayPal for bitcoin”. 

His partner was Fred Ehrsam, a Goldman Sachs trader (he left the company in 2017). 

As early as 2013 Coinbase secured funding from Union Square Ventures and Andreessen Horowitz. In 2018 the exchange raised $300m at an $8.1bn valuation in a Series E round led by the hedge fund Tiger Global Management.

In 2017 Armstrong made Fortune’s “40 Under 40” list, sharing tenth place with Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin. Two years later the Coinbase CEO’s name appeared in Time’s Time 100 Next list.

Life after the IPO

On April 14, 2021, Coinbase completed a direct listing on Nasdaq. The opening price was $381. The shares now trade well below that level.

That year Forbes valued Armstrong at $6.5bn and included him among the 400 richest Americans.

As of December 13, 2024, the magazine estimates the Coinbase chief’s assets at $13.5bn.

Beyond crypto

In 2018 Armstrong became the first crypto entrepreneur to join Bill Gates and Warren Buffett’s philanthropic campaign The Giving Pledge. Participants commit to donating at least 50% of their wealth to charity.

He also launched the GiveCrypto fund, aimed at providing direct financial assistance to those in need via cryptocurrencies. The organisation operated until 2023.

In September 2020 Armstrong proclaimed a new mission for Coinbase: building infrastructure for the crypto economy and steering clear of political and social debates unless they directly affect the sector. The exchange’s boss follows this approach and comments on politics only in the context of the industry.

In December 2024 Armstrong said the exchange would stop working with law firms that had hired anti-crypto staff of the SEC.