Brian Armstrong Wants To Handle Growing Volumes Of Memecoins By Adding DEXes Into Coinbase: ‘A Little Bit Like The Early Days Of The Internet’

Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase Global Inc. COIN, has voiced the necessity for a reevaluation of the company’s token listing process amid a surge in meme coin launches.

What Happened: During the company’s fourth-quarter 2024 earnings call, Armstrong highlighted the cryptocurrency industry’s significant transformation, with an estimated 1 million tokens getting created weekly. He added that most of these new cryptocurrencies were “lower quality” and meme coins.

“It’s a little bit like the early days of the Internet; you could list all the major websites on a single directory,” the top executive stated. “And eventually, you needed Google Search to sort through because the Internet just got so big

Armstrong proposed that Coinbase needs to integrate decentralized exchanges, where most of the meme coins are initially traded, into their product. This would allow customers to trade without needing to know or care whether it’s happening on a centralized or decentralized exchange.

“But we also need to balance giving people—the customers access to what they want with appropriate disclosures and
consumer protection so that they know that they’re trading the appropriate asset,” the CEO clarified.

Coinbase didn’t immediately return Benzinga’s request for additional information, such as the type of meme coins the exchange would like to integrate.

See Also: Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev Reveals What He’s ‘Most Excited’ About As Crypto Revenue Skyrockets 8X, Stock Surges 15% After Hours

Why It Matters: Armstrong’s comments come in the wake of high-profile meme coin launches in the last month, most notably the Official Trump TRUMP/USD and Official Melania MELANIA/USD tokens by President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump, respectively. TRUMP is available to trade on Coinbase.

Coinbase reported a higher-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of $2.3 billion, up 88% quarter-over-quarter, after Thursday’s market close.

Price Action: Coinbase stock fell 1.47% in after-hours trading after closing up 8.44% to $298.11 during Thursday’s regular session.

Photo by Below the Sky on Shutterstock

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.