Brian Armstrong thinks Coinbase could become a ‘super app’

‘It should work in a more global way’ for institutions and retail players

As the crypto markets continue to face uncertainty, Coinbase’s CEO Brian Armstrong sees greater potential for the digital asset ecosystem to grow.

Most people still think of crypto as an asset class that is traded and speculated on, but there are many more use cases for crypto than meets the eye, Armstrong noted during a fireside chat at Coinbase’s State of Crypto Summit on Thursday.

For example, the industry is being supported by traditional financial service players like BlackRock, which filed for a spot Bitcoin ETF last week, and Fidelity, which backed another crypto exchange.

In the next five to seven years, Armstrong’s vision for Coinbase includes turning it into a “super app,” referring to apps like WeChat and Alipay, which are used for messaging, commerce, banking, loans, payments, and even for ordering food. “In Coinbase’s case, we want to be that super app, but it’ll be based on decentralized protocols, not just money but decentralized social, messaging, merchants accepting NFTs out there, simple interfaces for DeFi,” Armstrong said. “It should work in a more global way.”

Building with institutions

Despite some “negative rhetoric,” the crypto industry is “moving forward,” Armstrong said. And traditional finance players are “leaning in and crypto is having a bit of a rally.”