Coinbase
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Investors
Founders
About
Coinbase was founded in June 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam in San Francisco, California 1. Armstrong, a former Airbnb software engineer, and Ehrsam, a former Goldman Sachs trader, met through the Bitcoin subreddit on Reddit 1. The company was part of Y Combinator’s Summer 2012 batch 2. Coinbase grew from a simple platform for buying and selling Bitcoin into one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States 1. Fred Ehrsam served as the company’s first president before departing to co-found the crypto investment firm Paradigm 1. Coinbase went public via a direct listing on the Nasdaq exchange on April 14, 2021, with a reference price of $250 per share, giving the company an estimated value of $47 billion 3. SV Angel was an early seed investor in Coinbase, and Topher Conway of SV Angel has worked closely with the company 4.
Funding History
| Round | Date | Amount | Valuation | Lead Investor | Key Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seed | Sep 2012 | $600K | N/A | Y Combinator ($150K) | FundersClub ($269K from 61 members), IDG Ventures, SV Angel, Adam Draper 2 5 |
| Series A | 2013-05-08 | $5M | ~$20M | Union Square Ventures (Fred Wilson) | Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, FundersClub 61314 |
| Series B | 2013-12-12 | $25M | N/A | Andreessen Horowitz | Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital 715 |
| Series C | Jan 2015 | $75M | ~$500M | DFJ Growth | Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, Ribbit Capital, NYSE, USAA, BBVA, DoCoMo Capital 8 |
| Series D | Aug 2017 | $100M | $1.6B | IVP | Spark Capital, Greylock Partners, Battery Ventures, Section 32, Draper Associates 9 |
| Series E | Oct 2018 | $300M | $8B | Tiger Global | Y Combinator Continuity, Wellington Management, Andreessen Horowitz, Polychain 10 |
| IPO (Direct Listing) | Apr 2021 | N/A | $47B (reference) | N/A | Public markets (Nasdaq: COIN) 3 |
What Investors Say
“Bitcoin adds an economic layer that has long been needed on the Internet… Bitcoin’s low-level technical protocol creates a clear and universal measure of agreed-upon value between transacting parties, cutting charges from intermediaries like credit card companies.” – Chris Dixon, Andreessen Horowitz, on leading Coinbase’s Series B, December 2013 7
Andreessen Horowitz and Union Square Ventures were the two largest outside investors in Coinbase at the time of its IPO, with a16z’s stake worth approximately $9.7 billion based on the listing price 3.
What Founders Say
“From the earliest days I built Coinbase to harness the power of cryptocurrency to create more freedom in the world.” – Brian Armstrong, CEO and co-founder 11
“Our mission is to increase economic freedom in the world.” – Brian Armstrong, Coinbase mission statement 11
Armstrong has spoken about recognizing early on that someone needed to build a cryptocurrency company that was not “sketchy,” based in a legitimate area, willing to work with regulators, and prepared to obtain licenses 12. He and the Coinbase team were “essentially pushing the industry forward by saying, ‘We think this should be a regulated, trusted industry’” 12.
Sources
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BeinCrypto, “Who Is Brian Armstrong? A Deep Dive Into the Coinbase Founder,” accessed March 2026. https://beincrypto.com/learn/who-is-brian-armstrong/↩↩↩↩
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Kingscrowd, “How Coinbase Raised Its Earliest Capital Via Crowdfunding,” accessed March 2026. https://kingscrowd.com/coinbase-raised-early-capital-crowdfunding/↩↩
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CNBC, “Here’s who just got rich from the Coinbase debut,” April 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/14/coinbase-who-gets-rich.html↩↩↩
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SV Angel website, “Team,” accessed March 2026. https://svangel.com/about/team↩
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Brian Armstrong, “The Coinbase Seed Round Pitch Deck,” Medium, accessed March 2026. https://barmstrong.medium.com/the-coinbase-seed-round-pitch-deck-50c8ec91d40b↩
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Y Combinator blog, “Coinbase (YC S12) raises $5M from Union Square Ventures,” May 2013. https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/coinbase-yc-s12-raises-5m-from-union-square-ventures-largest-financing-round-yet-for-a-bitcoin-startup/↩
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TechCrunch, “Coinbase Raises $25M Led By Andreessen Horowitz To Build Its Bitcoin Wallet And Merchant Services,” December 2013. https://techcrunch.com/2013/12/12/coinbase-raises-25m-from-andreessen-horowitz-to-build-its-bitcoin-wallet-and-merchant-services/↩↩
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Coinbase blog, “Coinbase Raises $75M from DFJ Growth, USAA, NYSE, and More,” January 2015. https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-raises-usd75m-from-dfj-growth-usaa-nyse-and-more↩
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TechCrunch, “Coinbase raises $100M at a $1.6B valuation amid explosive growth,” August 2017. https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/10/coinbase-raises-100m-at-a-1-6b-valuation-amid-explosive-growth/↩
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TechCrunch, “Coinbase is now valued at $8B after closing new $300M round,” October 2018. https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/30/coinbase-is-now-valued-at-8b-after-closing-new-300m-round/↩
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FinTech Magazine, “Brian Armstrong’s Coinbase: Pioneering the Crypto Revolution,” accessed March 2026. https://fintechmagazine.com/articles/brian-armstrongs-coinbase-pioneering-the-crypto-revolution↩↩
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Benzinga, “Brian Armstrong Hunted For Fixes When His Crypto Company Went Flat Post-Launch,” March 2026. https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/03/51118314/brian-armstrong-hunted-for-fixes-when-his-crypto-company-went-flat-post-launch-he-found-them-by-simply-picking-up-the-phone↩↩
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Union Square Ventures, “Coinbase,” by Fred Wilson, May 8, 2013, accessed May 2026. https://www.usv.com/writing/2013/05/coinbase/ — USV’s announcement of its Coinbase investment, naming Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, and Funders Club as co-investors in the Series A. ↩
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Coinbase blog, “Coinbase raises $5m in Series A funding,” May 22, 2013, accessed May 2026. https://www.coinbase.com/blog/coinbase-raises-usd5m-in-series-a-funding — Company’s own announcement of the $5M Series A from USV with Ribbit Capital, SV Angel, and FundersClub participating. ↩
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Y Combinator blog, “Coinbase (YC S12) Raises $25M Led By Andreessen Horowitz,” December 12, 2013, accessed May 2026. https://www.ycombinator.com/blog/coinbase-yc-s12-raises-25m-led-by-andreessen-horowitz/ — YC’s announcement of Coinbase’s Series B, confirming the $25M amount, December 12, 2013 date, and participation by Union Square Ventures and Ribbit Capital alongside lead Andreessen Horowitz. ↩