Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has outlined an ambitious plan to take every step of the startup’s journey, from incorporation to fundraising and public trading, onto the blockchain.
Speaking on the TBPN podcast, Armstrong described his vision for an onchain lifecycle where founders can incorporate their startup, raise a seed round, receive immediate capital in USDC (USDC) and eventually go public through tokenized equity.
“You can imagine this whole life cycle coming on chain,” he said, adding that such a change could “increase the number of companies raising capital and launching in the world.”
Armstrong said startups will no longer need banks or lawyers to handle global transfers, as funding can be raised instantly through onchain smart contracts. Once the capital comes in, founders can start generating revenue, accept crypto payments, access financing, and even take their companies straight to the public.
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Bringing Fundraising On Series
The Coinbase CEO said the fundraising process is currently “pretty difficult.” He suggested on-chain fundraising takes advantage of Coinbase’s recent acquisition of fundraising platform Echo to make capital formation “more efficient, more fair, more transparent.”
Echo, which is now part of Coinbase, has already helped more than 200 projects raise more than $200 million. Armstrong said the company will initially operate independently but gradually integrate with Coinbase’s ecosystem, giving founders access to its half-trillion dollars of custodial assets and global investor base.
“If we can have great builders coming in who want to raise money and connecting them with investors who have money, then we are the perfect platform to help accelerate that,” he said.
Coinbase is also working with US regulators to enable broader access to onchain fundraising. Armstrong claimed that current accredited investor rules exclude many individuals from early stage opportunities.
“In many ways the accredited investor rules are unfair,” he said. “We’re hoping we can find the right balance of consumer protection and also making these available for retail.”
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JPMorgan sees $34 billion opportunity in Coinbase’s base
Last week, JPMorgan Chase upgraded Coinbase to “Overweight” and revised its USDC rewards strategy, citing major growth potential from its base network.
Analysts said Coinbase is “leaning” toward its base layer-2 blockchain to capture more value from expanding the platform. He estimates that a potential Base token launch could create a market opportunity of $12 billion to $34 billion, with Coinbase’s stake taking between $4 billion to $12 billion.
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