Coinbase

Coinbase was founded in 2012 by Mr. Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam, a former Goldman Sachs trader who now runs a crypto investment firm. Coinbase rose to prominence as one of the first major crypto companies, a gateway to the chaotic world of digital assets for amateur investors. Coinbase has aspired to become the Google of crypto. As crypto prices surged, Coinbase hired thousands of new employees. In the 18 months before the crypto market crash, Coinbase’s staff more than quadrupled in size, to 6,100 from 1,250. Some recruits came from Silicon Valley titans like Google and Meta, including top executives. . Steep declines in crypto prices has led to a drop in trading, which accounts for the vast majority of the company’s revenue. As the largest crypto company on the public market, Coinbase COIN shares were added to the S&P 500 index on May 19 2025 and in July 2025 the firm reached a market cap of more than $100 billion. .