Armstrong Unveils ‘Everything Exchange’: Coinbase Targets Global Brokerage Dominance by 2026

The Pivot: From Crypto Casino to Financial Super App

Coinbase has officially signaled the end of its crypto-only era. In a Jan. 1 strategic roadmap, CEO Brian Armstrong outlined the company’s 2026 directive: transforming the platform into an “Everything Exchange” capable of handling equities, commodities, and prediction markets alongside digital assets. The market responded immediately, with Coinbase stock (COIN) surging over 9% to trade near $258.

The Receipt: 24/7 Stock Perpetuals

The core of Armstrong’s roadmap isn’t just adding traditional stocks. It’s changing how they trade. According to the filing, Coinbase will launch tokenized stock perpetuals in early 2026. While US customers will get zero-commission spot trading (Standard Market Hours), international traders are the real target for the disruptive tech: 24/7 access to synthetic US equities. This effectively allows a trader in Tokyo to hedge Apple exposure on a Sunday night, a utility currently bottlenecked by traditional clearing houses.

We believe everything will be tokenized, and bringing stocks to Coinbase is an important milestone toward enabling tokenized stocks.

Institutional Context: The Goldman Sachs Upgrade

This aggressive expansion directly attacks the market share of Robinhood and Interactive Brokers. The “Everything Exchange” strategy aims to solve the “fragmented wallet” problem, where users hold crypto in one app and equities in another. Wall Street is buying the narrative: Goldman Sachs raised its price target for COIN to $303 following the announcement, citing the platform’s potential to capture non-crypto trading volume. With the partnership with Kalshi for prediction markets already live, Coinbase is attempting to consolidate the entire retail speculative economy into a single interface.

Market Reaction: COIN currently trades at $258.30 (+9.2%), capitalizing on the broader equities rally and renewed sector confidence.