Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States.
Armstrong was a double major in Computer Science and Economics and received his Master’s Degree in Computer Science in 2005 from Rice University.
Previous to co-founding Coinbase in 2012, Armstrong held several other different positions with dissimilar companies.
During his time at Rice, he worked for IBM as an Intern Team Lead, following that up with a job in Enterprise Risk Management at Deloitte and Touche.
In 2003, he co-founded UniversityTutor.com, a global marketplace where parents and students can find independent tutors. He was CEO until 2012.
Starting in 2011, while still managing UniversityTutor.com he worked as a software engineer with Airbnb.
Armstrong co-founded Coinbase with former currency trader Fred Ehrsam.
During the summer of 2012, Armstrong and Ehrsam enrolled Coinbase for the Y Combinator Start-up Incubator Program
Ehrsam left the company in 2017 with a 6% stake in the company but still serves on the board of directors.
Armstrong would lead Coinbase to go public on the Nasdaq on April 13, 2021.
Armstong made headlines in June 2022 for calling out employees of Coinbase for criticizing company executives.
Armstong was quoted as saying,
“If you have no confidence in the execs of CEO of a company then why are you working at that company. Quit and find a company to work at that you believe in!”
Regarding airing the company’s dirty laundry publicly, Armstrong said,
“If you get caught you will be fired,”