Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s 2026 Vision: Building the Ultimate ’Everything Exchange’

Coinbase isn't just playing defense anymore—it's building the financial platform Wall Street feared.

Brian Armstrong just laid out the 2026 roadmap, and it's not about incremental updates. The 'Everything Exchange' vision throws the entire traditional brokerage model into the shredder. Think single interface, every asset class—crypto, stocks, ETFs, even tokenized real-world assets. One login, one wallet, one massive liquidity pool.

The Architecture Shift

Forget siloed platforms. Armstrong's team is engineering a unified settlement layer that bypasses legacy clearinghouses. Trades settle in minutes, not days. Fees get compressed to near-zero. It's the kind of infrastructure play that makes incumbent brokers look like they're still using fax machines.

Why 2026 Matters

The timeline isn't arbitrary. Regulatory clarity has finally arrived in key markets, and institutional capital is flooding in. Coinbase is positioning itself as the primary gateway—not just for crypto natives, but for every retail and institutional investor tired of paying the 'traditional finance tax' for slow, expensive intermediation.

The final move? Turning every user's portfolio into a living, composable asset. Your stocks could collateralize your crypto trades; your NFT could secure a loan. The lines between asset classes don't just blur—they vanish. Of course, the old guard will call it reckless until their own quarterly reports force them to copy it. Some things never change in finance—the instinct to protect outdated revenue streams until it's too late.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has outlined an expansive roadmap for 2026, signaling a major shift in how the company sees its future. No longer positioning itself as just a crypto exchange, Coinbase wants to become what Armstrong calls the world’s “number one financial app,” combining traditional finance, crypto, and on-chain infrastructure under one roof.

The plan is built around three core priorities that aim to MOVE Coinbase beyond trading and into everyday financial utility.

Building an “Everything Exchange”

Coinbase’s strategy is the idea of an “everything exchange.” The company plans to expand globally into equities, commodities, and prediction markets alongside crypto. This WOULD place Coinbase in direct competition with platforms like Robinhood and Interactive Brokers, while also challenging newer prediction-based platforms that gained traction in recent years.

Armstrong argues that users increasingly want a single dashboard for managing all financial assets. Instead of juggling multiple apps for stocks, crypto, and alternative markets, Coinbase wants to offer one unified interface where everything lives together.

Stablecoins as Everyday Money

Most importantly, the second pillar focuses on stablecoins, an area Coinbase sees as a long-term growth engine. After years of high interest rates highlighting the importance of stablecoin liquidity, Coinbase plans to aggressively scale payments and real-world usage.

The goal is to move stablecoins like USDC beyond trading pairs and into daily transactions, from small retail payments to cross-border business settlements. If successful, Coinbase would effectively operate as a global, crypto-native banking LAYER without traditional borders.

Base and the Push to Bring Users On-Chain

The third priority is Coinbase’s Layer-2 network, Base. Armstrong sees Base as a foundation for a consumer-friendly on-chain ecosystem, combining developer growth, scalable infrastructure, and simplified user experiences.

Coinbase wants to attract top developers to build applications that feel intuitive rather than technical, while also improving how users interact with decentralized apps. The approach mirrors the Apple ecosystem model, where infrastructure and applications reinforce each other.

Addressing Token Listings and Market Freedom

Armstrong also addressed criticism around slow token listings on Coinbase’s centralized exchange. He emphasized that millions of assets are already accessible through decentralized exchanges, shifting responsibility for discovery to the blockchain itself.

He cautioned users not to view any listing as an endorsement, stressing that Coinbase is building an open marketplace rather than curating investments.

Crypto Reaction

Separately, longevity researcher Aubrey de Grey weighed in on ongoing discussions involving Armstrong and Richard Heart, urging collaboration despite differences. He highlighted their shared commitment to longevity research, noting that many PulseChain investors care deeply about the same mission and that cooperation could amplify impact.

Together, these developments point to Coinbase aiming not just to scale crypto adoption, but to reshape how people interact with money, technology, and long-term innovation by 2026.