- Brian Armstrong said the financial system still needs eight major upgrades, with real-world asset tokenization and 24/7 global markets sitting at the center of his argument.
- The Coinbase CEO described a financial system that is becoming more global, more automated and more dependent on on-chain infrastructure.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has again put forward a broad thesis on where finance is heading. His point is not just that crypto will add a few new tools to the existing system. He is arguing, in effect, that much of the current financial architecture still runs on outdated rails.
The list he published covers eight areas, ranging from tokenized assets and global trading to stablecoin payments, AI-driven compliance, self-custody and sound money. It is a wide frame, but the underlying message is fairly direct. Finance is still fragmented, slow in places, expensive in others, and heavily dependent on intermediaries.
Armstrong puts tokenization at the top
Armstrong named real-world asset tokenization as the first major upgrade. That includes real estate, stocks, bonds, funds and other traditional assets moving on-chain, with the aim of faster settlement, fractional ownership and wider distribution.
This is not a small technical change. In traditional markets, settlement can still take one or two business days, depending on the asset and jurisdiction. Ownership records are often split between brokers, custodians, transfer agents and clearing houses. Tokenization tries to compress part of that process into programmable digital ownership, where transfer, settlement and record-keeping can happen more directly.
The attraction is clear. A tokenized bond, for example, could settle faster and potentially be distributed to a broader set of investors. Tokenized real estate could lower the entry barrier for ownership shares in assets that are usually illiquid and expensive. Funds could also become more programmable, with automated compliance checks and cleaner transfer mechanics.
Still, the hard part is not only the technology. Legal recognition, custody rules, investor protection, secondary market liquidity and the link between the token and the underlying asset remain decisive. A token is useful only if the claim behind it is enforceable.
Armstrong also pointed to 24/7 global trading. In his framing, future markets should not be tied to national exchange hours or isolated liquidity pools. Crypto markets already operate around the clock, and that has shaped user expectations. Traditional finance, by contrast, still stops and starts according to business days, public holidays and regional market schedules.
That difference matters. A more continuous market could reduce some settlement gaps and improve access for global users. It could also create new risks, especially around liquidity during off-hours, market surveillance and volatility when fewer professional desks are active.
Major areas where the financial system still needs an update:
1. Tokenization of real-world assets – Real estate, stocks, bonds, funds, etc. onchain for instant settlement, fractional ownership & massive distribution.
2. 24/7 Global trading – Pooled global liquidity, every…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 24, 2026
Stablecoins, AI and self-custody move into the same picture
Payments were another central point. Armstrong said next-generation payments should be near-instant and low-cost, with stablecoins playing a core role. That is one of the clearest areas where crypto has already moved beyond theory.
Stablecoins are increasingly used for cross-border transfers, exchange settlement, dollar access in markets with weaker banking infrastructure and treasury operations inside crypto-native businesses. The appeal is not complicated. A dollar-denominated token can move at almost any time, often faster than a traditional bank transfer, and without relying on several correspondent banks in the middle.
Armstrong also mentioned “agentic payments.” That term points to a newer idea: AI agents that can make or trigger payments on behalf of users, companies or software systems. In practice, this could mean automated purchases, machine-to-machine payments, subscription management, treasury rebalancing or microtransactions between digital services. For that to work at scale, payment rails need to be fast, cheap and programmable. Stablecoins fit naturally into that discussion.
The Coinbase CEO also included AI-powered risk, credit, compliance and financial advice. This is where the argument moves beyond crypto trading. Financial institutions already use automation in fraud detection, underwriting and transaction monitoring, but the next step would be more real-time and more personalized. AI could help assess credit risk, flag suspicious activity, improve compliance workflows and make basic financial advice more accessible.
There is a catch, of course. Better automation does not automatically mean better outcomes. Models can make errors, reproduce bias or create new forms of systemic risk if too many institutions rely on similar tools. That is why Armstrong’s point about regulation is important. He called for innovation-friendly rules based on risk rather than a one-size-fits-all model.
Self-custody and open protocols also sit inside the same vision. Armstrong argued that wallets and open financial networks can reduce middlemen and expand access to anyone with a smartphone. That is the strongest philosophical line in the list. It is about users holding assets directly, moving funds without asking permission from a centralized gatekeeper, and interacting with financial services through software rather than bank branches.
He also highlighted capital formation, describing a system where raising money becomes cheaper and more turnkey for founders. In theory, on-chain fundraising could widen access to early-stage capital markets. In practice, this area remains sensitive because public token sales have a long history of speculation, weak disclosure and enforcement problems.
The final point was “sound money,” which Armstrong framed as a refuge from inflation when confidence in fiat discipline weakens. That is a familiar crypto argument, especially around Bitcoin, but it also reflects a broader concern in markets. Investors continue to look for assets that can hold value when monetary policy, public debt and inflation expectations become harder to read.
For Coinbase, Armstrong’s list is also a business thesis. The company sits at the intersection of tokenization, stablecoins, custody, trading infrastructure, wallets and regulation. His message is therefore not just a prediction about finance. It is a map of where Coinbase believes the next competitive layer of the financial system will be built.
