Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has pushed back on the idea that crypto companies should pivot to AI, calling that advice an example of “zero sum, scarcity thinking” in a post on X.
Armstrong argued that crypto is a general-purpose technology. In his words, it is “infrastructure, the same way electricity or the internet is” and does not compete with the next major trend because it underpins it. He said the AI “megatrend” does not reduce crypto’s relevance and instead “makes crypto more important.”
Response to the industry’s turn toward AI
His comments come as a number of crypto firms reorient around AI. The report said Bitcoin miners are shifting focus to AI infrastructure, while digital asset treasury firms are also changing course as investment firms prioritize the emerging technology.
Armstrong’s view is that the two are complementary rather than competing layers. AI supplies the intelligence, he said, while crypto provides the money rails.
Why he says AI agents need crypto rails
Armstrong’s case centers on AI agents. He said they will need “their own financial infrastructure” and will eventually transact “far more per day than all humans combined.”
Unlike people, an agent cannot open a bank account, wait three days for a wire transfer, or reside in a single country, he said. That is why agents will need “real time programmable money” in the form of crypto so they can hold funds and pay for things on their own.
From there, Armstrong said he expects agents to trade, act as financial advisors, and raise or borrow money for their own projects. He also said they could take over tasks now handled by humans, including tax planning, portfolio rebalancing, and bill payments.
Coinbase’s AiFi push
Armstrong said Coinbase has been leaning into the emerging “AiFi” category through its contributions to the x402 protocol and its own Base blockchain. He also said USDC already powers “the vast majority” of agentic payments.
Coinbase has also adopted AI internally
The argument comes after Coinbase leaned into AI itself. Earlier this year, the exchange cut 14% of its staff during what the report described as a crypto down market. Armstrong framed the restructuring as an effort to rebuild the company as “lean, fast, and AI-native,” with “AI at our core.”
Rather than choosing between crypto and AI, he presented AiFi as Coinbase pursuing both at once: using AI internally while building the crypto rails that AI agents will transact on.
In an email to staff, Armstrong called the moment an “inflection point” and said the company was “adjusting early and deliberately to rebuild Coinbase.”