Leading cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN) held its much-anticipated IPO earlier this week, when shares traded at $ 381. CEO and co-founder Brian Armstrong has started Twitter Inc. (NYSE: TWTR) to Share insight into the creation of the business.
Coinbase creation: Armstrong started the process when he read the Satoshi Nakamoto white paper on Bitcoin 11 years ago when he was home for Thanksgiving.
“When I read that, I realized that crypto has the power to unlock a future where economic freedom was a reality for all,” Armstrong said, calling it “one of the greatest metaphorical problems of our time.”
Armstrong said he began coding an early Coinbase prototype at night and on weekends and began attending early bitcoin meetings around the Bay. ‘
The Coinbase app was first called Bitbank until Armstrong learned that the word bank had a legal definition. Without banking in the name, Coinbase still had the mission to increase economic freedom in the world.
Coinbase early days: Armstrong was accepted by Y Combinator and found the courage to end his work Airbnb Inc. (NASDAQ: ABNB).
“It’s hard to judge how bad an idea everyone thought Coinbase was,” Armstrong said. Even Armstrong’s friends in the tech sector thought Coinbase was a scam, which led to self-doubt for Armstrong.
In the Twitter thread, Armstrong thanked the team at Y Combinator for giving him a chance and believing in him.
“Their first $ 150,000 check helped me believe in myself and gave me the courage to quit my job and really try to build a business,” he said.
Armstrong also recalls the process of electing a co-founder. Armstrong chose Fred Ehrsam after meeting more than 50 people in a process similar to dating.
In the early years of the business, our early employees worked in the laundry room, in the bathroom, and in the hallways. “Some even camped on the roof,” Armstrong said.
Many of the first employees, including Armstrong, chose to pay a portion of their salary in Bitcoin.
Related link: Why Coinbase’s upside could be huge, with a $ 500 price target
Currency base growth: Armstrong said he knew a few years later that, in order to achieve its goals, Coinbase had to look beyond the US Coinbase, which had spent months in the UK and EU to secure a banking relationship.
The growth of ICOs in 2017 and 2018 helped boost the Coinbase brand, but also caused problems due to increased demand.
“It was a difficult time for the company and our employees,” Armstrong said. “We have not met our customers’ expectations when it comes to reliability or customer support.”
The demand has led to some employees sleeping in the office and working 100 hours a week, just like in the earliest years of the business.
Coinbase Today: The crypto-economy has grown since the inception of Coinbase.
“There’s a saying that the best way to predict the future is to create it,” Armstrong said.
The CEO says Coinbase has achieved only a small fraction of the goals as a company. Greater economic freedom for society could lead to higher GDP growth and life expectancy, Armstrong said.
“Crypto can offer the basics of economic freedom to anyone: property rights, healthy money, free trade and the ability to work how and where they want.”
COIN PRICE ACTION: Shares of Coinbase rose 4.49% to $ 336.69 on Friday afternoon.
(Photo: Coinbase)
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