Armstrong’s 8-Point Plan Expands Coinbase into Stocks, Payments

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong posted an eight-point blueprint on X Monday outlining plans for tokenized real-world assets, 24/7 global trading, stablecoin payments, AI-powered risk and compliance, open access, capital formation, clearer regulation and sound money. The plan describes Coinbase’s push into stocks, payments and broader financial infrastructure.

The priorities align with recent product launches. In March Coinbase rolled out stock perpetual futures for non-U.S. traders in 26 European countries, offering round-the-clock, leveraged exposure to names including Apple and Nvidia. The company also made perpetual futures available to institutional clients through Coinbase International Exchange; those contracts are limited to accredited investors in selected jurisdictions.

On payments and settlement, Coinbase has expanded USD Coin (USDC) use. In April the exchange partnered with Singapore fintech Nium to enable USDC settlement across more than 190 countries, allowing businesses to fund cross-border payouts without prefunding local accounts. In June 2025 Coinbase worked with Shopify and Stripe to offer USDC payments to merchants in 34 countries with automatic fiat conversion and no foreign-exchange fees. In October 2025 Coinbase announced a collaboration with Citigroup to explore fiat-to-stablecoin payout methods for institutional clients.

On access and capital formation, Coinbase launched Kalshi-powered prediction markets across all 50 U.S. states in January, letting users trade event contracts tied to sports, politics and culture. Research firm Bernstein estimates the prediction market sector could reach about $240 billion in volume this year and approach $1 trillion annually by 2030. On regulatory priorities, Coinbase lobbied for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and withdrew support twice before saying in May the bill was closer to passage after Senate compromises. Coinbase supported the GENIUS Act, which was signed into law in July 2025 to establish federal oversight for US stablecoins with one-to-one dollar backing.

The blueprint includes AI-related payments and compliance work. In May Coinbase backed the x402 payment protocol, adding batch settlement to enable AI agents to authorize micropayments below $0.0001. The feature arrived weeks after the company reduced its workforce by about 14%; Armstrong described the reductions as intended to create smaller, AI-native teams and increase automation.

Some bitcoin-focused figures criticized the ordering of priorities and urged that Bitcoin be treated as the first priority. Pierre Rochard argued Bitcoin should come first rather than later. Blockstream CEO Adam Back wrote “Bitcoin is #1.”

Coinbase’s expansion places it alongside other exchanges that already offer equity perpetuals and synthetic stock products under different regulatory frameworks. Some of the eight priorities correspond to existing products or partnerships, while others remain subject to regulatory approval and wider market access.