Brian Armstrong explains 88 COIN stock sales, cites risk management and 10b5-1 plan

On January 5, 2026, Coinbase cofounder and CEO Brian Armstrong defended his record of 88 stock sales and zero open-market purchases executed under a 10b5-1 plan. He said regulatory rules bar him from buying COIN on Coinbase as a Section 16 officer and argued it would be unreasonable to keep virtually all his wealth in a single stock after more than a decade at the company. Armstrong maintains that most of his net worth remains in Coinbase shares and says some sale proceeds are being used to help launch other businesses, as the exchange pushes toward an "everything exchange" strategy including traditional stock trading.