Brian Armstrong lacks the swagger of Jeff Bezos, the audacity of Mark Zuckerberg, or Elon Musk’s cult of personality. Still, it’s become clear of late that the Coinbase CEO possesses the same vision and leadership qualities that have made those other founders tech industry legends. The time has come to give the 42-year-old Armstrong his due.
I recently sat down with the Coinbase CEO at a Goldman Sachs event north of San Francisco. Unlike many executives, Armstrong doesn’t relish media interviews, but he lights up when given the opportunity to discuss big ideas in crypto and technology. This was the case when I asked him about the fast-evolving world of wallets—which Armstrong believes will supplant web browsers—and the potential for crypto-based identity verification, which he thinks is coming soon.
