Svmuu News: Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, stated that self-custody wallets are the only way to bring open financial systems to over 1 billion users. He noted that alternatives such as the CoinbaseApp work well in developed countries with clear regulations, but the U.S. accounts for only 4% of the global population.
Armstrong said that self-custody reduces friction in account opening and registration, is available globally, and scales through software rather than by establishing regulated entities and local teams in every country. He also noted that AI agents are better suited to access funds and complete tasks through self-custody, and that self-custody is crucial for economic freedom even in developed countries.
Jesse Pollak, the former head of Base, previously announced his resignation and handed over leadership of Base to Jordan Fish. Pollak stated that Base would be built as a global financial blockchain; under Cobie’s leadership, Base will shift its focus to three core areas: trading, payments, and agents.