The CEO of Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, referred to as for calm amid the autumn within the firm’s shares on Wall Road and defended that, regardless of the inventory market decline, the corporate goes by—in accordance with him—certainly one of its strongest moments.
In a message printed on the X social community on February 17, 2026, the supervisor said that “Coinbase and cryptocurrencies have by no means been in a stronger place.” Moreover, the American businessman said that the standard market could be underestimating the scope of the enterprise and the position it performs throughout the transformation of the monetary system.
Armstrong mentioned he responded throughout a session with analysts to a query about why Coinbase is usually “misunderstood or undervalued” by Wall Road. In his opinion, The corporate embodies a typical case of the so-called “innovator’s dilemma.”the place disruptive applied sciences generate resistance amongst established actors.
The world’s greatest disruptive improvements have adopted this sample. Simply take a look at instances like Uber, Airbnb, self-driving automobiles, the adoption of synthetic intelligence and even SpaceX versus NASA. Cryptocurrencies are straight disrupting Wall Road, so it is smart that some on Wall Road would misunderstand cryptocurrencies or Coinbase. The neatest will undertake them. The stragglers can be left behind.
Brian Armstrong, founder and director of Coinbase.
As Armstrong defined, whereas a related a part of massive monetary establishments is already adopting providers linked to cryptocurrencies, one other phase stays skeptical. This division, he famous, is because of each financial incentives and inertia typical of the standard monetary system.
Working outcomes versus inventory market stress
Past the strategic narrative, Armstrong defended that The corporate’s fundamentals present related progress. Within the final three years, the trade has expanded and diversified its enterprise traces, lowering its unique dependence on buying and selling commissions. Allow us to keep in mind that, as CriptoNoticias has reported, Coinbase is the primary custodian of the bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) that help the ETFs.
In the identical X put up, the CEO reported that Complete buying and selling quantity on Coinbase grew 156% year-over-year and that its market share doubled. Likewise, he assured that the belongings saved on the platform tripled in a interval of three years and presently has 12 merchandise that generate greater than 100 million {dollars} yearly every. The corporate additionally reported all-time highs in metrics related to USDC and its Coinbase One subscription service.
Armstrong added that the figures underneath GAAP accounting requirements (Typically Accepted Accounting Rules in the USA) embrace unrealized features or losses on cryptocurrencies held on steadiness sheet, which might have an effect on the online revenue studying. In line with him, if the adjusted outcomes are noticed, the corporate would have closed the final quarter with profitability even in a bear market surroundings.
Market notion is completely different
Regardless of this knowledge and the optimism that Armstrong tries to convey, the value of Coinbase (COIN) shares continues to mirror discouragement on the a part of traders.
The decline near 50% in comparison with its historic most (reached on July 18, 2025) reveals that part of the market nonetheless questions the valuation or the tempo of consolidation of the sector.
The distinction between operational efficiency and inventory market habits leaves open the dialogue as as to if the present value responds to a short lived undervaluation (as Armstrong believes) or to true structural dangers that Wall Road perceives within the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
On this context, it can’t be missed that the collapse coincides with a second of direct curiosity conflict between Coinbase and the standard banking system (which has nice weight on Wall Road), particularly across the regulation of stablecoins and the seek for authorized frameworks such because the Readability Regulation.
Whereas for Coinbase stablecoins (corresponding to USDC) are a basic piece, for conventional banking they characterize a menace to their monopoly.
The shortage of clear definitions in Washington about who can subject these belongings and underneath what circumstances has generated a regulatory bottleneck that the large gamers on Wall Road use to justify their skepticism, or to purchase time whereas they attempt to launch their very own options.
