Brian Armstrong is the co-founder and CEO of Coinbase. Before founding Coinbase Armstrong worked as a software engineer at Airbnb from 2011-2012, established UnivsersityTutory.com and worked as a software engineer at CarWoo.com.
Armstrong holds three degrees from Rice University: a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Bachelor’s Degree in Economics, and a Master’s Degree in Computer Science. As the CEO of one of the largest and well-funded Bitcoin companies, Armstrong has turned out to be one of the more noteworthy figures in Bitcoin.
The majority of the discussion encompassing Armstrong stems from his support of two fork attempts of the Bitcoin network: Bitcoin Classic and Bitcoin XT. Bitcoin XT was the first attempt at a hard fork and Armstrong showed initial support for the software on December 26, 2015
Armstrong gained support among users wishing to see an increase in the block size. Many disagree, however, and criticise his second movement of support for an intentional hard fork of Bitcoin.
Coinbase has raised more than $225 million and paved the way for cryptocurrencies to enter the mainstream by providing a digital currency exchange. Coinbase currently serves over 10 million customers across 32 countries, giving custody for more than $10 billion in digital assets. Coinbase was valued at $1.6 billion following a $100 million funding round in August 2017. The world’s largest exchange for trading digital currency, Coinbase’s customers have more than doubled in the past year, while trade volume in 2017 alone was roughly eight times last year’s total.
GiveCrypto.org, a site launched by Armstrong, helps individuals in developing markets monetarily as they directly receive cryptocurrency. Donors effectively are guaranteed that their contributions will end up in the right hands. GiveCrypto also provides additional ways of sending donations, and its app helps to monitor the distribution and collaboration with other non-profit organizations within areas.
