Coinbase CEO Wants Every Startup to Launch, Fund, and IPO Onchain

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong outlined his vision for bringing the entire startup lifecycle onchain during an interview on TBPN this week, from incorporation and fundraising to going ￰1￱ emphasized that capital formation on blockchain technology could democratize access to early-stage investments while making the fundraising process faster, cheaper, and more transparent for entrepreneurs ￰2￱ Acquires Echo to Transform Startup Fundraising The exchange announced its $375 million acquisition of Echo , an onchain capital-raising platform founded by crypto veteran Jordan “Cobie” ￰3￱ has helped over 300 projects raise more than $200 million since launching in ￰4￱ explained that connecting Coinbase’s half-trillion dollars in customer assets with quality projects seeking capital creates a powerful network effect for the crypto ￰5￱ acquisition extends Coinbase’s infrastructure across the full lifecycle of crypto ventures, from token creation and cap table management to fundraising and secondary market ￰6￱ told interviewers that Echo would initially operate as a standalone platform, while its Sonar product would integrate into Coinbase’s broader ￰7￱ CEO revealed he had been courting Cobie for some time after receiving consistently accurate critical feedback about Coinbase’s products on social media. “ Every time I’d call him, you know, I DM’d him on X a while back and was like, ‘Man, you keep lighting us up on X, but you’re right every time,’ ” Armstrong ￰8￱ purchased UpOnly NFT from well-known crypto trader Cobie for $25 million, resurrecting the podcast show “UpOnly” after three years halt. #Coinbase #UpOnlyNFT #Cobie ￰0￱ — ￰9￱ (@cryptonews) October 21, 2025 The deal also included Coinbase’s $25 million purchase of the UpOnly NFT , reviving the popular crypto podcast that paused during the FTX ￰10￱ for Full Lifecycle Onchain Company Building Armstrong detailed how startups could soon handle every business milestone through blockchain rails. “ You can go in there and open a Coinbase account for your startup ,” he explained, suggesting the company might even help entrepreneurs incorporate onchain through decentralized autonomous ￰11￱ could then “ press the raise money button ” to distribute pitch materials to interested investors, with capital arriving instantly via USDC smart contracts instead of waiting weeks for wire transfers and legal ￰12￱ CEO highlighted the painful traditional fundraising process that entrepreneurs currently endure. “ Every entrepreneur who I know finds the fundraising process to be pretty onerous ,” Armstrong stated. “ It usually takes like two to three months where everything else that you’re focused on has to ￰13￱ go do tons of pitch ￰14￱ get told no 19 out of 20 times. “ The vision extends beyond initial fundraising to daily operations and eventual public ￰15￱ noted that crypto payment integration and financing tools would be readily available as companies generate revenue. “ Eventually someday you’re going to want to go public ,” he said, describing how companies could list their shares onchain for retail ￰16￱ emphasized that this full-stack approach would “ increase economic freedom ” and enable more entrepreneurs globally to launch businesses. “ This will just increase economic freedom.

It’ll increase the number of companies who go raise capital and get started out there in the world ,” he added.) October 22, 2025 He envisions a future in which major corporations are listed entirely on the blockchain as crypto continues to transform financial ￰17￱ also emphasized that most companies would likely raise capital using stablecoins to maintain pricing stability while continuing to hold Bitcoin or other crypto assets as treasury management tools. “ It’s almost becoming like a best practice if you want to hedge against inflation, ” he noted regarding Bitcoin treasury holdings.