Coinbase CEO's journey from no 'political causes' to hiring DOGE staff

Five years ago, Brian Armstrong wanted employees of his cryptocurrency exchange to refrain from expressing political views at work. Now, the Coinbase CEO seems to be open to involvement with Republican figures, including members of US President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

In a May 13 X post, Armstrong said members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, spearheaded by Elon Musk, though not set up as an actual department, would be welcome to implement cost-cutting changes at Coinbase after leaving the US government.

Armstrong offered to set up an accelerated onboarding process with the exchange, responding to an interview in which at least one DOGE staffer felt ostracized from Harvard University, where he had been enrolled.

“If you are looking for your next mission after serving your country, consider helping create a more efficient financial system for the world at Coinbase,” Armstrong said.

Since assuming a government position at the White House in January, Musk and the DOGE team have faced criticism from both sides of the aisle over their cuts, which often forced out or fired experienced employees without proper notice.

Lawsuits halting DOGE’s efforts or challenging dismissals are pending in federal court from parties alleging illegal or unconstitutional actions.

Coinbase once called itself a ‘mission-focused company’

Armstrong’s remarks, suggesting approval of DOGE’s actions, represented a sharp departure from the CEO’s position before Trump’s second term. At the time, many of the companies and executives in California’s Silicon Valley seemed to be more publicly aligned with Democrats. 

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis spurred nationwide outrage and protests, prompting many companies to take a public position. Armstrong issued a notice at the time saying that Coinbase was a “mission-focused company” that didn’t “advocate for any particular causes or candidates.”

In response to Armstrong not publicly supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, many Coinbase employees organized a walkout. The CEO responded by claiming the crypto exchange had an “apolitical culture” and that roughly 5% of Coinbase staff who “didn’t feel they could be on board with this direction” had accepted an exit package.

Related: Coinbase considered Saylor-like Bitcoin strategy before opting out: Bloomberg

Less than a month later, Armstrong retweeted a post suggesting he could support Kanye West for US President in 2020. After that time, the CEO made few public statements related to politics and US laws, though he did push for clarification on crypto tax rules in 2021.

Stand with Crypto moves Coinbase closer to political advocacy

It’s not entirely clear how Armstrong, at least in public, moved to be more aligned with political figures. However, for Coinbase, which the CEO said was intended to be “apolitical,” the change seemed to have started around the time the company received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March 2023, suggesting a potential enforcement action.

Armstrong, like many in the crypto industry, had often criticized the SEC before 2023 for not offering regulatory guidelines to follow, but the Wells notice and subsequent lawsuit seemed to move Coinbase from participating in a national political discussion on digital assets to outright advocacy. The company announced the launch of the Stand with Crypto Alliance in August 2023, a group “focused on mobilizing the crypto community to directly engage in the legislative process.”

Before Stand with Crypto, Armstrong used his platform to call on crypto supporters to contact their elected officials about digital asset bills moving through Congress. Even with this initiative tied to the exchange and CEO, the focus wasn’t on partisan politics, but “common-sense legislation to protect consumers and their right to crypto.” 

“Being anti-crypto is a really bad political strategy going into 2024,” said Armstrong in a December 2023 X post, in response to legislation aimed at fighting money laundering with digital assets.

Enter Trump and the 2024 election cycle

In contrast to the 2020 election and even the 2022 midterms, the 2024 cycle stood out in more ways than one. For the first time, a presidential candidate was openly advocating for policies favoring cryptocurrency. The amount of money flowing from companies in the industry, including Coinbase, into federal elections also reached a record high.

Stand with Crypto, as an advocacy organization, was no exception. The group launched its own political action committee (PAC) in May 2024, allowing it to influence the elections through media buys and direct contributions. Though Stand with Crypto still organized like-minded voters, its efforts included a renewed focus on money.

It stood alongside the Fairshake PAC, a committee backed by roughly $45 million from Coinbase and $45 million from Ripple, which spent more than $130 million in the 2024 election cycle. Armstrong personally contributed $1 million to Fairshake.

Though the Coinbase CEO suggested a political preference, he seemed not to take a strong position at the exchange ahead of the election. In Coinbase’s shareholder letter for the third quarter of 2024, the exchange said it was “prepared to work with either administration” in the US, whether that meant Trump or Democratic candidate Kamala Harris.

More front-facing in Washington, DC

Armstrong became more of a presence on Capitol Hill and among members of the Trump administration after the results of the 2024 election. He personally met with the then-president-elect in November and reportedly attended at least one of the inauguration events with other cryptocurrency executives. Coinbase also donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration fund.

In February, the exchange announced that the SEC would be dropping its enforcement action, marking one of many crypto-related lawsuits the regulator has dismissed under Trump. Armstrong said at the time that the move was “an important signal about where things are going.” 

The CEO was going to Washington, DC, seemingly more frequently than he had before this administration took power. In addition to inauguration events, Armstrong attended a crypto summit at the White House with Trump and other high-level executives and spoke with lawmakers in the Capitol to support bills establishing a regulatory framework for payment stablecoins and crypto markets. 

The president faces scrutiny from lawmakers and industry leaders about his ties to the crypto industry, from his family-backed platform World Liberty Financial to his own memecoin, which was launched in January. Cointelegraph reached out to Coinbase and Armstrong but had not received a response at the time of publication.

“It’s not my place to really comment on President Trump’s activity,” said Armstrong in response to concerns about the president’s potential conflicts of interest over stablecoins.

Where the CEO takes Coinbase and his role in influencing the US government remains to be seen. There are fewer legal burdens and an administration that is seemingly friendly to the industry and Armstrong personally.

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