Brian Armstrong calls Bitcoin new digital gold, predicts billions of users by 2030
Coinbase Global Inc. CEO Brian Armstrong reaffirmed his steadfast bullish outlook on Bitcoin today, June 15, 2026, amid ongoing market volatility. In a post on the X platform and a recent interview on the MoonShots podcast, Armstrong doubled down on his conviction that the cryptocurrency remains a premier long-term store of value.
Brian Armstrong, who co-founded the San Francisco-based exchange, emphasized that “things are never as good or as bad as they seem.” This perspective arrives as Bitcoin trades at approximately $63,366, reflecting a modest 0.97% daily increase. Despite recent turbulence, the CEO stated his belief that the asset recently bottomed out around the $60,000 level.
The executive attributed some of the recent price stagnation to the rise of artificial intelligence. Brian Armstrong suggested that AI has recently absorbed a considerable portion of the risk capital that might otherwise have flowed into digital assets. However, he remains focused on the decade ahead, predicting that adoption will reach billions of users by 2030.
Brian Armstrong views Bitcoin as the new digital gold
Central to the Coinbase CEO’s thesis is the comparison of Bitcoin to gold. Brian Armstrong noted that while gold holds a market capitalization of roughly $20 trillion, Bitcoin currently sits between $2 trillion and $3 trillion. He views the cryptocurrency as an inflation-resistant asset that investors should hold during periods of macroeconomic uncertainty.
The CEO’s belief in the asset extends to its potential role in international finance. During the State of Crypto Summit in New York last year, Brian Armstrong discussed Bitcoin potentially becoming a world reserve currency. He specifically linked this possibility to the United States debt situation, suggesting that Bitcoin’s fixed supply offers a logical alternative to fiat systems.
For Brian Armstrong, this is not a new stance. He noted that he has been a “longstanding user” since purchasing his first Bitcoin on the platform in 2014. He urges investors to look past the “short-term highs and lows” and maintain a perspective that spans years rather than days or weeks.
Market performance and institutional outflows
The current bullish sentiment from leadership comes despite a challenging financial period for the exchange. In February 2026, Coinbase reported that its Q4 2025 transaction revenue tumbled to $982.7 million from $1.56 billion a year prior. Consumer transaction revenue alone saw a drop of more than 45%, reflecting significant price drops and liquidations across the broader market.
Institutional interest has also seen recent fluctuations. Between November 2025 and January 2026, U.S. spot Bitcoin ETFs experienced substantial withdrawals. These outflows included $7 million in November and more than $3 billion in January. While these figures suggest a cooling of appetite, Brian Armstrong maintains that such cycles are a natural part of the industry’s four-year patterns.
Diversifying revenue beyond trading fees
To mitigate the impact of these cycles, Brian Armstrong has pushed for a strategy that reduces reliance on transaction fees. Since late 2022, the company has sought to diversify into subscription and services revenue. This shift aims to provide a more stable financial foundation for Coinbase during the “downs” of the market cycles he often references.
Despite the recent revenue decline, history shows the company’s stock can decouple from immediate market trends. In early 2023, COIN shares rose more than 23%, outperforming the NASDAQ-100 Technology Sector Index. This occurred even as institutional outflows affected spot prices, highlighting the volatile nature of the sector’s equity performance.
Looking forward, some analysts share the CEO’s optimistic trajectory. Citibank has projected that Bitcoin could reach as high as $189,000 by the end of 2026. For Brian Armstrong, the goal remains building the infrastructure necessary to support the predicted billions of users, regardless of whether the immediate market sentiment is “good” or “bad.”