Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said his company’s most ambitious vision is to replace traditional banks by turning Coinbase into a full-service crypto “super app.”
Speaking during a recent interview with Fox Business, Armstrong confirmed the company’s plans to offer a full suite of financial services, from payments to credit cards and rewards, all powered by crypto rails.
“Yes, we do want to become a super app and provide all types of financial services,” Armstrong said. “We want to become people’s primary financial account and I think that crypto has a right to do that.”
Armstrong criticized the current banking system as outdated and inefficient, pointing out high transaction fees as one of the main pain points. “It kind of boggles my mind. Like, why are we paying two to three percent every time we swipe our credit card?” he asked. “It’s just some bits of data flowing over the internet. It should be free or close to it.”
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Coinbase eyes 4% Bitcoin rewards card
The Coinbase CEO said the long-term goal is to offer better services across the board, including a credit card with 4% Bitcoin (BTC) rewards. “Ultimately, we want to be a bank replacement for people,” he said.
The push for a super app comes amid growing regulatory clarity in the US. Armstrong praised recent legislative wins such as the GENIUS Act and the progress of broader market structure legislation in the Senate, noting that the “freight train has left the station” regarding regulatory clarity.
“We’ve partnered with banks like JPMorgan and PNC,” Armstrong noted, “but their policy folks sometimes are doing a different playbook. We’d rather that they just operated on a level playing field with every other company.”
Related: Coinbase files legal motion over Gensler, SEC missing text messages
Coinbase taps DeFi to boost USDC yields
As Cointelegraph reported, Coinbase has integrated decentralized lending protocol Morpho into its app, enabling users to lend USDC (USDC) directly without needing third-party DeFi platforms. The move allows users to potentially earn yields as high as 10.8%.
The rollout comes amid tensions around yield-bearing stablecoins, which were banned under the GENIUS Act. Bank-backed groups like the Bank Policy Institute have called for regulators to close perceived loopholes that allow yield through third-party DeFi integrations.
Coinbase dismissed these criticisms, stating that stablecoins aren’t a threat to lending but a modern alternative to outdated banking revenue models.
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