Brian Armstrong
Born 1983 · Age 42
American software engineer, entrepreneur and investor; co‑founder & CEO of Coinbase, philanthropist and advocate for crypto regulation.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in San Jose, California
Brian Armstrong was born near San Jose, California to two engineer parents.
Graduated Bellarmine College Preparatory (approx.)
Attended Bellarmine College Preparatory, a Catholic all‑male private high school in San Jose (high school graduation year approximate).
Co‑founded UniversityTutor.com
While a junior at Rice University Armstrong co‑founded UniversityTutor.com, a site matching tutors to students.
Interned at IBM (while at Rice)
Held an internship at IBM during his time at Rice University.
Earned dual bachelor's degrees from Rice University
Graduated from Rice University with bachelor’s degrees in economics and computer science.
Earned MS in Computer Science from Rice University
Completed a master's degree in computer science at Rice University.
Moved to Buenos Aires for ~1 year
Spent about a year in Buenos Aires working for an education company and observing economic instability there.
Worked at Deloitte (Enterprise Risk Management)
Worked as a consultant in enterprise risk management at Deloitte after early internships/roles.
Discovered the Bitcoin white paper
Came across Satoshi Nakamoto's Bitcoin white paper (circa Christmas 2010), sparking his interest in crypto.
Began coding a hosted Bitcoin wallet (side project)
Worked nights and weekends building code (Ruby/JavaScript) for buying/storing cryptocurrencies while at Airbnb.
Joined Airbnb as Software Engineer
Joined Airbnb as a software engineer, working on fraud prevention and global payments across ~190 countries.
Joined Y Combinator and received $150,000
Entered the Y Combinator accelerator and received $150,000 in seed investment, which funded the early Coinbase build.
Met co‑founder Fred Ehrsam (via Reddit)
Connected with Fred Ehrsam on a Reddit subgroup and began the partnership that would found Coinbase.
Launched Coinbase wallet 'Toshi' (first iteration)
Early Coinbase wallet iteration called 'Toshi' (named after Satoshi); anecdote: 'Toshi' is also a name of Armstrong's cat.
Posted on Hacker News seeking co‑founder
Published a Hacker News post looking for a cofounder prior to entering Y Combinator; the post went viral.
Co‑founded Coinbase (company founded)
Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam formally co‑founded Coinbase to let users buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies.
Coinbase launched public services (bank transfers for BTC)
Coinbase launched from a shared apartment offering bank‑transfer based purchases and sales of Bitcoin (Oct 2012).
Reached ~30,000 users in first year
Coinbase attracted around 30,000 users in its first year of operation.
Olaf Carlson‑Wee joined as first employee
Coinbase's first hire was Olaf Carlson‑Wee (joined 2013), marking the beginning of team growth.
Raised $5M Series A from Union Square Ventures
Coinbase closed a $5 million Series A round led by Union Square Ventures (Fred Wilson lead investor).
Raised $25M from Andreessen Horowitz and others
Coinbase raised a $25 million round from Andreessen Horowitz, Ribbit Capital and other investors.
Featured in multiple documentaries/books (ongoing recognition)
Armstrong was featured across media: documentaries (2014 Rise and Rise of Bitcoin; later 'COIN') and the 2020 book 'Kings of Crypto'.
Appeared in documentary 'The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin'
Armstrong appeared in the 2014 documentary chronicling early Bitcoin development and adoption.
UniversityTutor.com acquired (reported)
The tutoring startup he co‑founded (UniversityTutor.com) was reported acquired by Johnson Educational Technologies (2014).
Reported institutional investment (~$75M round reported)
Coinbase attracted institutional/strategic investments in 2015 (reports cite ~$75M from NYSE/DFJ/others).
Launched GDAX / Coinbase Pro (advanced trading)
Coinbase launched its professional trading platform (later rebranded Coinbase Pro / GDAX) to serve high‑volume traders.
Received NYDFS BitLicense and became crypto 'unicorn'
Coinbase received regulatory approval in NY (BitLicense era) and surpassed $1B valuation to become a unicorn.
Fred Ehrsam left Coinbase (retirement from day‑to‑day)
Co‑founder Fred Ehrsam stepped away from day‑to‑day operations in 2017; retained board role and ~6% stake.
Fortune '40 Under 40' – ranked #10
Armstrong was ranked #10 on Fortune's 2017 '40 Under 40' list.
Coinbase most‑downloaded iPhone app and ~$1B revenue (2017)
During the 2017 crypto boom Coinbase became the most downloaded iPhone app in the U.S. and reportedly generated ~$1B in revenue.
Reportedly self‑funded and founded ResearchHub
Armstrong created ResearchHub, an open research sharing platform modeled on GitHub to make research public.
Signed The Giving Pledge & launched GiveCrypto.org
Armstrong became the first major crypto exec to sign The Giving Pledge and launched GiveCrypto.org to donate crypto to those in need.
Funding round valued Coinbase at ~$8.1B
A 2018 private funding round valued Coinbase at approximately $8.1 billion.
Announced Coinbase would become fully remote (pandemic era)
During the COVID‑19 pandemic Armstrong announced Coinbase would be a full‑remote organization and would not maintain a formal HQ.
60 employees (~5%) left Coinbase over new policy
Following the 'Mission Focused' memo, approximately 60 employees (about 5% of workforce) departed Coinbase.
Published 'Mission Focused' blog; discouraged political activism at work
Armstrong wrote a blog post declaring Coinbase a 'Mission Focused Company', discouraging political/social activism at work and offering severance to dissenting employees.
Filed with SEC to go public (direct listing)
Coinbase filed paperwork with the SEC to pursue a direct listing on the Nasdaq.
Public advocacy and lobbying for regulatory clarity
Armstrong increased engagement with U.S. lawmakers and regulators to advocate for clearer crypto rules (ongoing through 2021–2025).
Armstrong ownership disclosed (~19% at listing)
At the direct listing Armstrong owned roughly 19% of Coinbase shares (public filings & reporting).
Coinbase reported cumulative funding and investor base (reporting)
Reports around this time summarize Coinbase had raised nearly $498.7M over ~18 rounds and counted dozens of investors.
Coinbase direct listing on NASDAQ (COIN)
Coinbase went public via direct listing; opened at $381/share, public valuations reported near $99.6B (briefly ~$100B) and other reporting cited market cap ~$85B.
Forbes net worth estimate (May 2022) ~$2.4B
Forbes estimated Armstrong's net worth at approximately $2.4 billion (May 2022 update).
Featured in documentary 'COIN: A Founder's Story'
Armstrong and Coinbase were the subject of the documentary 'COIN: A Founder's Story' (film by Greg Kohs).
SEC issued warnings to Coinbase
SEC publicly warned Coinbase about potential charges for trading activities and classification of crypto assets as securities.
NewLimit Series A: raised $40M (co‑founder)
Armstrong co‑founded NewLimit (anti‑aging/epigenetic reprogramming) and the company raised $40M in a Series A in May 2023.
SEC sued Coinbase (alleging trading unregistered securities)
On June 6, 2023 the SEC sued Coinbase alleging the exchange traded certain crypto assets that should have been registered as securities.
Met with House Democrats on digital‑asset legislation
Armstrong held a closed‑door meeting with House Democrats (New Democrat Coalition) focused on digital‑asset legislation.
Coinbase announced Lightning Network support
Armstrong announced that Coinbase would add Lightning Network support for Bitcoin payments to the platform.
Forbes: #2 on Crypto Rich List; net worth est. $11.2B
Forbes named Armstrong #2 on its Crypto Rich List and estimated his net worth at about $11.2 billion; also listed #145 on Forbes 400.
Rallied support & Fairshake PAC spending (~$40M) in Ohio Senate race
Armstrong rallied bitcoin supporters behind Republican Bernie Moreno; his super PAC Fairshake spent about $40M to support Moreno in 2024.
Closed‑door meeting with Donald Trump (personnel discussions)
Armstrong reportedly met privately with Donald Trump in November 2024 to discuss personnel appointments for a prospective second administration.
Named #49 in Fintech Top 100 Leaders (Fintech Magazine)
Fintech Magazine ranked Armstrong #49 in its Fintech Top 100 Leaders for 2025.
Coinbase Ventures to invest in Próspera (charter city)
Armstrong announced Coinbase Ventures would invest in Próspera, a charter city off Honduras, intended to expand a de‑regulated economic model.
Key Achievement Ages
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