Coinbase’s newest earnings name took an surprising flip when CEO Brian Armstrong turned a lighthearted joke right into a dwell experiment in prediction markets.
Towards the top of the decision, Armstrong intentionally dropped a collection of crypto buzzwords – “Bitcoin,” “Ethereum,” “blockchain,” “staking,” and “Web3” – immediately deciding the end result of lively bets on platforms like Polymarket and Kalshi.
These markets had allowed customers to wager on which phrases would seem throughout Coinbase’s quarterly name. After Armstrong’s offhand remarks, odds for a number of phrases spiked to 100%, guaranteeing payouts for many who had predicted accurately. He later admitted that somebody had shared one of many markets with him earlier than the decision and that he thought it could be “enjoyable” to play alongside.
Not everybody agreed. Some within the trade applauded the joke as a innocent nod to crypto tradition, whereas others noticed it as poor judgment. Arca CIO Jeff Dorman accused the transfer of blurring moral traces, calling it “a failure of integrity.” Coinbase later clarified that Armstrong hadn’t participated in any markets and that the corporate’s inner guidelines strictly forbid workers from doing so.
Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin got here to Armstrong’s protection, suggesting the CEO’s humor shouldn’t be taken too severely. In any case, the monetary stakes had been minimal – whole quantity throughout the markets was below $100,000, with just a few hundred {dollars} tied to particular phrases.
The episode ended up boosting visibility for prediction platforms simply as each Kalshi and Polymarket have been gaining traction and elevating recent funding. In the meantime, Coinbase had a strong quarter, beating income expectations and shutting the day up almost 5% at $343.78 – guaranteeing the true winners had been its shareholders, not the bettors.
