Coinbase's Ambition Is To Replace Banks, CEO Brian Armstrong Says

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Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) CEO Brian Armstrong has set an ambitious target for the leading U.S. cryptocurrency exchange: replacing consumer banks.

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"Ultimately, we want to be a bank replacement for people," Armstrong told Fox Business last week. "We want to be their primary financial account."

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Armstrong said Coinbase and the cryptocurrency industry in general could offer more efficient financial services than traditional banks.

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"It kind of boggles my mind, like, why are we paying 2 to 3% every time we swipe our credit card?" he told Fox Business. "It should not cost 2 to 3% every time you swipe your credit card. It’s just some just some bits of data flowing over the internet. It should be free or close to it. And so that’s just one example of many things that crypto can do to update the financial system."

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Armstrong said Coinbase intended to become a "super app" to achieve its goals. The term refers to a company that offers a broad range of financial services on a single platform. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Paul Atkins has popularized the term in recent months, arguing that so-called super apps should be able to operate with a single license.

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"We can offer better financial service products across the board, not just on trading," Armstrong told Fox Business.

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Coinbase also needs to broaden its services to maintain its lead over competitors like Gemini (NASDAQ: GEMI), Armstrong said. He added that customers were likely to use Coinbase’s services because they held their assets on the exchange, noting that the exchange held more cryptocurrencies than any other company.

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Armstrong’s remarks come as tensions appear to be rising between legacy financial institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges over stablecoin adoption. Banking groups have lobbied against exchanges offering interest and rewards to stablecoin holders, citing deposit flight risks.

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Armstrong last week slammed these lobbying efforts as attempts to block competition. He compared stablecoin interest from exchanges to airline miles and credit card rewards, noting that every company should be allowed to have reward programs.

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"American consumers want to just earn more money on their money that should be totally allowed," he told Fox Business.

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Bitcoin To $1 Million

Armstrong also reiterated his belief that Bitcoin could trade at $1 million by 2030. The asset was last trading at $112,000.

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He said the cryptocurrency was likely to benefit from clearer regulations in the U.S., citing the GENIUS Act and anticipated market structure rules. He cited the U.S. government’s establishment of a strategic Bitcoin reserve and institutional flows from exchange-traded funds as additional bullish catalysts.

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"There’s a lot of positive tailwinds for Bitcoin, and there’s never going to be more than 21 million Bitcoin ever made in the world, and lots of pools of capital still haven’t gotten access to it. So that tells me this thing has a long way to run," he told Fox Business.

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This article Coinbase's Ambition Is To Replace Banks, CEO Brian Armstrong Says originally appeared on Benzinga.com

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