Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong: ‘We’re Buying More Bitcoin Every Week’

Key Takeaways

• Coinbase stock climbed to over $381 per share on Thursday, June 26.
• CEO Brian Armstrong said: “We’re buying more Bitcoin every week.”
• However, Coinbase has no plans to change its Bitcoin reserve strategy.

As Coinbase stock (COIN) surged to new highs on Thursday, June 26, CEO Brian Armstrong celebrated that “we’re buying more Bitcoin every week.”

Nonetheless, Armstrong has resisted the appeal of packing Coinbase’s treasury with BTC.

Coinbase Derivatives Announcement

Coinbase stock has been buoyant since the company announced plans to launch U.S. perpetual-style futures on its derivatives exchange.

Internationally, perpetual futures have become the dominant crypto derivatives product.

But until now, U.S.-based exchanges generally stayed clear due to regulatory risk.

Crypto derivatives like perpetual futures contracts fall under the jurisdiction of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). That means only CFTC-registered Designated Contract Markets (DCMs) and Swap Execution Facilities (SEFs) can legally offer such instruments to U.S. customers.

In 2021, the CFTC fined Kraken $1.25 million for offering illegal margin products to U.S. users without proper registration. The agency also sued Binance in 2023 for offering unregistered futures.

Now, however, Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, the firm’s CFTC-registered platform, is preparing to launch U.S. perpetual‑style futures on July 21.

Starting with nano-sized contracts (0.01 BTC and 0.10 ETH), these are designed to blend the features of global perpetual futures—no expiration, 24/7 trading, and leverage, with full compliance under U.S. commodities law.

COIN Surges

Following Coinbase’s derivatives announcement, COIN started to rally, climbing to a peak of over $381 on Thursday.

Coinbase’s share price is now the highest it has been in years, although technically it remains below its all-time high of $429.54 on the day of its Nasdaq debut.

Coinbase Bitcoin Reserves

Armstrong’s comment came in response to a post from Bitcoin Magazine Chairman David Baily, who congratulated the Coinbase CEO, but added: “Now he just needs to build a proper Bitcoin treasury.”

Like a growing number of companies, Coinbase does hold some BTC as a strategic reserve asset.

During a post-earnings Q&A session in May, Armstrong revealed that around 25% of the firm’s investment assets are in Bitcoin

At one point considered, executuves considered taking a more aggressive stance a la Microstrategy. But ultimately, they made a “conscious choice about risk” and opted to retain a smaller BTC reserve. “We’re not going to take 80%, that would be too risky,” Armstrong said.