Brian Armstrong, the head of Coinbase, has just thrown a vision on the table that could cause quite a stir in the financial world. His plan? Startups that go public (IPO) entirely “on-chain”, i.e. directly on the blockchain. Without unnecessary intermediaries, without an army of lawyers, and most importantly – without arrangements that favor only the richest.
No more “closed club” for the chosen few
Let’s be honest, today’s capital market is a bit of an exclusive club. Armstrong correctly points out that due to the current, absurdly strict regulations, promising companies remain in the shadows for years as private companies.
Effect? The cream of the crop, i.e. the biggest profits at the early stage, are made by private equity funds and large players. An ordinary person only gets scraps when the company is already “mature” and has experienced the fastest growth. The move to blockchain would change this – prices would be set faster, costs would drop to a fraction of current rates, and capital could flow from anywhere in the world without any questions asked.
A company on your phone, from start-up to stock exchange
But Armstrong doesn’t just want to “tokenize” the stock. He sees it more broadly: the entire life cycle of a company, from entry in the register to daily fundraising, should happen online.
Instead of waiting weeks for bank transfers that are stuck somewhere in 1990s systems, founders could send the pitch straight to investors. Quickly, precisely and without tons of paperwork. Imagine smart contracts, stablecoins and capital that hits your account in seconds.
Sounds like science fiction? According to Coinbase, this is the only way to give entrepreneurs real economic freedom.
Will the SEC finally give up?
Okay, but what about the regulator? Armstrong is not naive and knows that without reaching an agreement with the SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), none of this will happen. That’s why Coinbase is already “knocking on the doors” of officials to jointly develop rules that will protect ordinary people, but will not kill innovation.
This is not their first attempt – they already tried in 2021, but then they hit the wall. Today the situation is different. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, the private equity market raised a record $310 billion. This is huge money that misses public stock exchanges. Armstrong wants to redirect this stream to where each of us has access.
Will he succeed? Time will tell, but one thing is certain: the traditional financial system needs this shake-up more than it wants to admit.
