Coinbase is broadening its ambition to serve the American public by aiming to be the foremost financial service provider for its customers, surpassing traditional banks, according to CEO Brian Armstrong.
Brian Armstrong: Coinbase Aims to be a “Bank Replacement”
22 September 2025 - 11:57 CEST
By Sandmark staff
As part of the new crypto-focused financial system that Armstrong envisions, Coinbase wants “to be a bank replacement for people… we want to be their primary financial account,” he said in a weekend interview with Fox Business.
Need for CLARITY
Following on his visit to Washington DC last week, Armstrong also used the interview to continue his public advocacy for the CLARITY ACT, a bill before the US Congress to establish a clear regulatory framework for crypto. The legislation, which is currently being revised in the Senate, is benefiting from strong bipartisan support, according to Armstrong, who co-founded crypto exchange Coinbase in 2012.
He remains critical of “the big banks” who are actively lobbying to limit the credit-card style rewards for crypto but noted that this issue was already resolved in the GENIUS Act, a piece of legislation that passed before the Congress's summer recess.
A “robust system”
Armstrong qualified his usual optimism for crypto, noting that “we need to have a robust system.” In order to accomplish that, he wants “every financial services company, whether it’s a bank, payments provider, a FinTech… to integrate crypto into their products.” In his view, “that’s how we’re going to get a new, more modern, more fair financial system all over the world.”
