Coinbase Global, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., has appointed Anthony Armstrong, the former chief financial officer at Elon Musk’s xAI and X, to its board of directors as the firm c
Coinbase Global, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S., has appointed Anthony Armstrong, the former chief financial officer at Elon Musk’s xAI and X, to its board of directors as the firm continues to expand beyond conventional digital-asset trading.
The appointment took effect on Sep. 1 and increases the board size from nine to 10 members. Armstrong will also serve on Coinbase’s Audit and Compliance Committee and is expected to remain a director through the company’s 2027 annual shareholder meeting unless his tenure ends earlier.
Armstrong is not related to Coinbase co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong, a point the company also addressed in its regulatory disclosure.
In announcing the appointment, Coinbase highlighted Armstrong’s track record across finance, government and technology, with particular emphasis on operational discipline and efficiency.
“Anthony has had a consistent focus on building things that work at scale, without waste, [...]. Efficient execution is one of our core operating principles, and Anthony has lived that standard across some of the most demanding environments in finance, government, and technology.”
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Anthony Armstrong spent almost a decade at Morgan Stanley, eventually serving as vice-chairman of investment banking after working extensively on technology mergers and acquisitions.
His connection with Musk predates his role at xAI. Armstrong advised on Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, which later became X, before taking on senior responsibilities across Musk-linked businesses.
He subsequently served as a senior adviser at the Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, and later became CFO across xAI, X.AI Corp. and X Corp.
That background adds another senior finance figure to a Coinbase board overseeing a company whose structure increasingly resembles a broader financial-market platform rather than a crypto exchange focused mainly on bitcoin and ether.
Coinbase also disclosed that Armstrong and members of his immediate family already maintain accounts with the company and use Coinbase products in the ordinary course of business. Those transactions are conducted under the same general terms and fee structures available to customers.
The board appointment comes while Coinbase is pushing further into equities, derivatives, stablecoins and prediction markets under its broader “Everything Exchange” strategy.
The company reported about $1.2 billion in net revenue for the second quarter, including roughly $599 million from transactions and $555 million from subscriptions and services.
Coinbase has increasingly highlighted the declining importance of bitcoin spot trading to its overall revenue base, with other products now accounting for the large majority of net revenue. The firm yesterday launched crypto derivatives in Canada.
COIN shares were trading at about $193 at the time of writing, up 10% in a day.
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