Brian Armstrong is CEO of Coinbase, which has recently grown to over 500 employees (founded in 2012). Coinbase is working to establish an open financial system for the world that will create innovation, efficiency and economic freedom.
They aim to be the trusted, legal compliant place for people to trade crypto.
In this Techcruch Article (and video) the company is described:
Coinbase is known for being the most popular exchange for converting fiat currency into crypto — most of the largest traded exchanges are crypto-to-crypto — but he foresees a future in which it plays host to a growing number of cryptocurrencies as it becomes standard for companies to create their own token, which runs alongside equity as an alternative investment system.
Armstrong states the investment phase is driving the crypto market but the utility of blockchain is where the long-term value exists.
Armstrong articulated that:
Web 1.0 was about publishing information, web 2.0 was about interaction and web 3.0 is going to be about value transfer on the internet because now the web has this native currency and so applications can be built that instantly tap into this global economy on the internet.
Coinbase plots to become the New York Stock Exchange of crypto securities