Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong predicts a future where firms go public entirely on-chain. In a recent tweet, Armstrong unveiled a vision for an on-chain IPO, saying: “Eventually, you’ll be able to go public entirely onchain, which will dramatically lower costs, reduce friction and increase access. Hopefully very soon.”
The Coinbase CEO highlighted in his X post the need to make capital formation significantly easier for private companies. He observes a high demand for some of the large private companies, referring to this as “a good example” of the unintended consequences of higher regulation.
We need to make capital formation way easier for private companies.
There’s such high demand for some of the large private companies, it’s actually a good example of the unintended consequences of higher regulation. Right now, companies are incentivized to stay public for too…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 25, 2026
Armstrong further highlighted a trend whereby companies stay private for years, and all the money is made by private or credit investors, but when they go public, price performance often is not great. He noted the reason for this to be that there is no liquid market setting proper valuations early in the lifecycle.
Eventual outcome
The Coinbase CEO predicts an eventual outcome: companies going public entirely on-chain, a move he says might lower costs, reduce friction and increase access.
Coinbase continues in its push to build the infrastructure needed to bring every company, from the smallest startup to the largest bank, on-chain.
In a systems update in December, Coinbase rolled out a slew of new products with the intent of turning it into a one-stop financial app, expanding into stocks and tokenization, prediction markets, more advanced trading with futures and perpetual futures, and DEX trading.
Coinbase Business, an all-in-one financial platform designed for startups and small businesses, was introduced and made available to all eligible businesses in the U.S. and Singapore.
2026 to see IPO rush
The U.S. initial public offering market is bracing for a rush of deals with a lineup including some of the most closely watched private companies in technology, finance and crypto.
Investors are looking out for Kraken crypto exchange, which was valued in a November funding round at about $20 billion, and which has filed confidentially for a U.S. IPO. Others that could jump in include Grayscale and BitGo.
In comparison, Circle and Figure made their market debuts earlier in 2025, while Coinbase became a public company on Nasdaq in April 2021.