Despite recent market pullbacks and a tense legislative battle in Washington, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong remains extremely bullish on Bitcoin (BTC). The crypto boss has told Bloomberg that the flagship coin could surge all the way to $1 million.
“I’ve said publicly I think that Bitcoin could hit $1,000,000 by 2030. I still think that’s true,” Armstrong stated. “So whatever happens in any given week or month, I, you know, we try not to track it too much. It’s the longer-term trend that I think is interesting.”
Armstrong emphasized that the finite nature of Bitcoin distinguishes it from traditional fiat systems.
“The cool thing about Bitcoin is that…there’s no money printer, right? So the supply of it is fixed, it’s finite. And so as more people integrate crypto and use crypto, there’s more demand and finite supply. That only means the price can go up,” he said.
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Armstrong offered a stark warning for those on the sidelines: “If they don’t have at least 5% of their net worth in Bitcoin, they’re going to be pretty sad.”
The battle with the banks
Coinbase is currently entrenched in a high-stakes political battle regarding the future of market structure legislation. Last week, Coinbase pulled its support for a draft Senate bill, a move that caused shockwaves in Washington. Armstrong revealed that the decision stemmed from what he viewed as protectionist measures designed to shield traditional banks from competition.
“There were too many giveaways to Tradfri, if I can say that,” Armstrong explained. “Our view is that there should be a level playing field, for this is allowed. This is not allowed. And then all the US companies compete, and banks didn’t like that.”
The CEO did not mince words regarding the lobbying efforts of the incumbent financial institutions. “The bank lobbying groups and bank associations are out there trying to ban their competition, and I have zero tolerance for that. I think it’s un-American. It harms consumers. And the banks need competition. They need to innovate.”
A primary friction point involves stablecoins. Banks have argued that platforms rewarding customers for holding stablecoins create a “deposit flight risk.” Armstrong countered this by drawing a sharp distinction between the risk profile of a crypto exchange and a fractional reserve bank.
“We do not do fractional reserve lending,” Armstrong said. “In a crypto world, there’s a 100% reserve, so all your money is there. It eliminates this entire category of risk around a bank run. No such thing is possible if there is 100% of the money there.”