Armstrong sits down for the newest episode of Boardroom Talks to discuss everything from staying grounded while building a company to the future of AI, and much more.
Coinbase is a sponsored partner of Boardroom.
Building an empire like Coinbase doesn’t happen by accident, and having the right people at the helm is pivotal to success.
Enter Brian Armstrong.
The Coinbase CEO co-founded the company in 2012, taking them public in 2021 with a valuation sitting at nearly $100 billion. To this day, Coinbase remains one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchange platforms in the industry.
In the latest episode of Boardroom Talks, Rich Kleiman chops it up with Armstrong about his journey at Coinbase, how he got there, what’s next for the crypto company, and much more.
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Staying Grounded
When your net worth sits at nearly $10 billion, it could be easy for one to be content or coast once reaching the mountaintop. But even Armstrong isn’t exempt from the hard work, which includes still doing the dishes for his mother.
“I’m like, ‘I’m a billionaire, why do I need to [do this]?’ She’s like, ‘Shut up, wash the dishes,'” Armstrong told Kleiman. “It’s good to have people keep you grounded. … I think we’ve all met people who got a little too full of themselves and you can come crashing down.”
The AI World
Like cryptocurrency, one industry that’s been impossible to ignore of late is artificial intelligence. All the biggest companies in tech and elsewhere are pouring resources into generative AI tools and programs, which are slowly integrating their way into our lives seemingly by the day.
For Armstrong, not only is AI something Coinbase continues to monitor moving forward, but it’s something the CEO is jumping into headfirst. So much so that he’s already envisioning a world in which AI robots could manage bank accounts.
“Hey, if we end up in a world where we have these AI agents amongst us, whether on our computer or robots walking down the street … they’re going to need to have money and the ability to go get things done,” Armstrong said.
Your Phone is Your Wallet
Remember when people used to have to physically deposit money and fill out deposit slips? Those days are long gone.
“It just feels so antiquated. Your phone is your wallet,” Armstrong said.
Armstrong goes on to say how people these days want to make payments, create content (and get paid for it), pay rent, and more all on their phones. As the world moves forward into this new age, the Coinbase CEO believes there’s a distinct lane for crypto to occupy.
“There’s a future here where crypto is actually going to become people’s, like Coinbase could be their primary financial account essentially and use it to run their lives,” he said. “That’s definitely a younger person’s game.”
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