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Breaking the record, Brian Armstrong created the first-ever public cryptocurrency exchange, the largest crypto exchange in the United States and the second-largest worldwide, Coinbase.
Brian Armstrong is a highly influential and well-respected figure in the cryptocurrency industry for his outstanding leadership of Coinbase since its creation in 2012.
Brian Armstrong (born Jan. 25, 1983) is an American business executive, billionaire, and investor.
He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Coinbase and lives in San Jose, California, U.S..
Brian received media attention for his policy of keeping the workplace free of political activism.
Brian Armstrong has also played a significant role in accelerating the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and advocating for a favorable crypto regulatory environment in the United States. He also promotes utilizing blockchain technology for financial services.
Under Brian’s leadership, Coinbase has become a leading crypto exchange and has played a crucial role in making cryptocurrencies more popular and accessible to the general public.
Coinbase has expanded its crypto and digital asset services, including introducing Coinbase Wallet and Coinbase Pro, a platform for more experienced crypto traders.
Coinbase broke records to become the first crypto exchange in the United States of America to go public through a listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange in April 2021.
Early Life and Education
Brian Armstrong was born near San Jose, California, to engineer parents.
He studied computer science and economics.
In 2006, he obtained his master’s degree in computer science from the prestigious Rice University. At the time, He interned for IBM as a student at Rice and then worked in enterprise risk management for Deloitte & Touch.
At Rice College, he started his first company, UniversityTutor.com, in 2003. It was a platform that connected parents, students, and independent instructors globally.
Brian served as the CEO of UniversityTutor.com until 2012.
In 2014, Johnson Educational Technologies LLC acquired the company.
Following his departure from UniversityTutor.com, he co-founded GiveCrypto, a philanthropic platform that provides cryptocurrency to the underprivileged and aims to improve financial inclusion.
Brian continued to hone his entrepreneurial skills while working as a developer and consultant and in other roles with firms including Deloitte, IBM, and Airbnb.
In 2012, Brian terminated his contract at Airbnb. He co-founded Coinbase with Fred Ehrsam, thus starting the second-largest crypto exchange worldwide and chasing his mission of bringing crypto trading services and access to billions worldwide.
But Brian decided not to stop there. In 2023, he will be recognized as the co-founder of NewLimit, a bioengineering startup specializing in epigenetic cell reprogramming.
Brian Armstrong’s Wife
Photo Credit: Drew Altizer
Rumor has it that Brian Armstrong is in a relationship with Indonesian actress Raline Shah. It has piqued many people’s interest, as they have managed to keep their personal life away from public attention
Though these rumors are not confirmed, Brian’s relationship with Raline Shah certainly plays a significant role in his life.
Armstrong’s Career: Founding Coinbase
In 2012, Armstrong applied for Y Combinator incubation, but he had to find a co-founder to proceed, and he had only three days to find one. He posted on Hacker News for a co-founder detailing his mission, which went viral and garnered huge interest on Reddit.
Fortunately, Brian Armstrong met Ehrsam, a Goldman Sachs trader, on Reddit, where Brian frequently shared his views on crypto, and they shared valuable bullish insights on Bitcoin and crypto at large. They came together and received a $150,000 funding infusion from Y Combinator.
Armstrong co-founded Coinbase with Fred Ehrsam in 2012. Bitcoin’s potential inspired the two entrepreneurs, and they aimed to make it easy for everyone to buy and sell these digital assets.
Coinbase quickly rose to become one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, and it has played significant roles in the growth, development, and adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Ben Reeves, co-founder of Blockchain.com, initially showed interest in Coinbase and was in discussions to join the Coinbase founding team. However, Reeves and Brian split up soon before the Y Combinator funding due to their clashing opinions on how the Coinbase Wallet should work.
Brian and Ersham launched Coinbase out of their two-bedroom shared apartment, introducing its services to the world for buying and selling via bank transfers in October 2012. cryptocurrencies
Coinbase raised another $25 million in December 2013 from Ribbit Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, and other investors. Currently, Coinbase has 76 investors and has raised a total of $498.7 million in funding over 18 rounds.
Fred Ehrsam later left the company in 2017 with a 6% stake but still sits with the board of directors and was part of the company’s audit committee before its April 2021 public offering.
Coinbase, under Armstrong‘s leadership, has been active in investing in other companies and has made 23 investments so far. The most recent investment was on Feb. 15, 2023, in crypto market index fund Alongside, which raised $11 million in the round. With this, the future of Coinbase is in safe hands
Brian Armstrong owns 19% of Coinbase shares. According to Forbes, as of May 2022, Armstrong‘s net worth hovers close to $6.2 billion, making him a crypto billionaire American CEO.
