Coinbase prioritizes ‘everything app’ in 2026 plan

Coinbase Chief Executive Brian Armstrong has outlined the exchange’s roadmap for 2026, with the creation of an “everything” financial app at the top of the company’s strategy for this year. 

The Nasdaq-listed exchange’s CEO shared the roadmap in a post on X Friday, mentioning several prongs, including global expansion, improving payments infrastructure, and supporting the developer base onchain.

“We’re making major investments in product quality and automation underlying each of these as well. Goal is to make Coinbase the #1 financial app in the world,” the CEO wrote.

Coinbase sets sights on building an ‘everything exchange’ 

Brian Armstrong told the crypto community that the company’s primary objective for 2026 is to grow into an “everything exchange.” The app will integrate several financial services within a single application, including cryptocurrencies, equities, prediction markets, and commodities.

According to the company executive, these products would be available on spot markets, futures, and options, taking Coinbase’s business model beyond being a crypto-only exchange. 

The announcement did not include a timeline or jurisdiction-specific plans. However, Coinbase has repeatedly said that regulatory clarity in the United States and other markets will determine how quickly it can add non-crypto asset classes.

Armstrong also mentioned the exchange is looking to bring more users “onchain” through the company’s developer network, the Base layer-2 blockchain, and the Base application, which he deemed a “consumer-facing gateway to onchain activity.” The company believes Base can support the creation of decentralized applications, social features, and creator-focused tools like Ethereum. 

Coinbase bashed over ‘ignoring’ support and privacy issues 

The roadmap announcement was received with heavy criticism from Crypto Twitter, who cited how Coinbase’s customer support practices have been a thorn in the community. Several accounts on X blasted the company for supposedly “outsourcing” support services, against the backdrop of last year’s data breach.

Here are our top priorities for 2026 at Coinbase:

1) Grow the everything exchange globally (crypto, equities, prediction markets, commodities – across spot, futures, and options)

2) Scale stablecoins and payments

3) Bring the world onchain through @CoinbaseDev, @base chain,…

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 1, 2026

Cryptopolitan had reported that several of Coinbase’s offshore support employees accepted bribes to share customer’s information. This resulted in losses of approximately $400 million.

“Any plans to onshore customer support to safeguard customers’ privacy and prevent the data breaches that have happened in the past?” one X user asked, prompting a response from another who accused the company of cutting costs by employing offshore workers over user protection.

“Of course not, that would affect their bottom line. Why hire reputable and trustworthy American workers when they can undercut employees by outsourcing the work through foreign labor?” the reply said. “Brian doesn’t care about his customer base or customer privacy. He has to appease his investors with the stock price. Numbers on a chart above all.”

Part of those calling for immediate improvements to customer support said it is the biggest barrier to trust and growth, while others asked Armstrong and his team not to limit the Base app to creator and content coins.

“Get rid of scams in the Base app. Having to constantly look up coin addresses and worry about scams is too much friction if you’re serious about onboarding the world onchain,” a critic commented.

The “super app” approach was also questioned, as netizens pondered over if consumers in North America and Europe want a single app that does everything. According to one community member, super apps may be popular in parts of Asia, but there are few clear examples of them succeeding in Western markets.

Creator economy ideas not necessarily good, community argues

Jesse Pollak, a Base developer and internet personality, sought for feedback on how the app could be better on Thursday. An X user who goes by the name “isthinking” suggested adding creator revenue streams directly to Base profiles.

“If base can serve as the literal base of creator payouts of all digital means, Shopify is a first step, then once liquid is in apps, make people money without needing to trade/speculate,” they explained.

Isthinking suggested that music streams, entertainment royalties, and e-commerce income could all go into onchain identities. Creators could then get instant cash from fees without having to sell tokens.

They said that most content creators stay away from crypto tech because they are afraid of hurting their reputation and losing money, which Jesse Pollak agreed with by sending a “salute” emoji.

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