Paperjam: The experts know you, but the general public perhaps not so much. Can you explain what you want to do? What is your vision?

Brian Armstrong: We think cryptocurrencies are an important technology for modernising financial services. It started with trading--people wanted to own a bit of Bitcoin--and then other assets became available. Then it evolved into financial services: payments with stablecoins are growing like crazy, and blockchain lending is also starting to develop.

Essentially, we believe that this will lead to a new way of creating applications on the internet--what is sometimes called Web3--including decentralised identity, social networks, predictive markets and so on. It’s a broad technology, and we think it will make financial services more efficient, more accessible to everyone, cheaper and faster. For example, you can now transfer stablecoins anywhere in the world in less than a second and for less than a cent. It’s a real breakthrough. It’s probably the most efficient means of payment today, and we’re seeing a lot of Fortune 500 companies taking an interest.

In this context, what kind of services do you offer?

Coinbase offers custody services, payment APIs, trading and ways to earn returns or rewards on your assets. Last week we announced a new product aimed at startups and SMEs: Coinbase Business, which integrates a powerful set of stablecoin APIs. We also announced a partnership with Shopify, one of the largest e-commerce platforms: millions of merchants will be able to accept payments in dollars. This is an opportunity for them to reduce fees and for consumers to earn cashback rewards.

In this new financial world, trust plays a key role. You have different licences and authorisations in different jurisdictions. Can you explain to people that you are committed to becoming a mainstream financial player within a few years?

Historically, many people have used banks. But a new generation is growing up not using traditional banks, but rather fintech apps. They want something different. By the way, banks can also be risky: they use fractional reserve banking, so they don’t have all your money available. Even if you have deposit insurance, it only covers a certain amount. If you have more, you lose it. At Coinbase, we don’t do fractional reserve lending: we have 100% reserves. We are not yet regulated under Mica, but Europe is ahead on this point. We hope to obtain our licence in the next few weeks. This should reassure consumers: 100% of their assets are available, we meet the compliance and financial standards of a major Fortune 500 company. We want to build stronger financial services, so that people can really trust us. And we’ve been at it for 12 years.

Many people here in Europe think that, in the United States, you are freer to do business. And that when you arrive in Europe, you come up against regulatory fragmentation. Is that how you feel too? As someone who knows both ecosystems, how do you compare them?

The US is far from simple: we have 50 state regulators and several federal ones. So it’s quite complicated. In Europe, we hope that a single Mica licence will soon cover the whole of the EU. With a little hindsight, I think we need intelligent regulation: enough to regulate the market, but not too much to stifle innovation. Striking the right balance is difficult. Too much regulation or too much consumer protection can slow down adoption, drive people to use foreign products and destroy local industry. There’s still a very strong spirit of innovation in the United States. In Europe, it sometimes feels slower. But there are counter-examples like Luxembourg, which has a pro-business climate and a reasonable approach to regulation. It’s attractive for us as a European hub. We’re looking for places where the rules are clear, not stifling, so that we can invest, hire and create jobs.

Some people say that regulation can become an asset, a sort of “added value” because it reassures people, especially the uninitiated. Do you find regulation in Europe “sexy,” so to speak?

I think Europe has done a good job in making the rules clear. On the whole, it’s well done. There are perhaps a few areas for improvement, but overall it’s a good framework.

A lot has happened in the last few weeks. What else do you have to announce?

Nothing to announce officially today, except that we hope to get our Mica licence in the next few weeks. There are a lot of initiatives underway, and I can talk about one of them: X402.

Yes, tell us about X402.

It’s an innovative idea. You may be familiar with the 404 error (“page not found”). There was another code, 402, which meant “payment required.” Originally, browsers never implemented it, so we always entered our bank card every time we made a purchase. With X402, we’re taking this idea to the crypto world: every web request could be accompanied by a payment. This would make it possible to bypass paywalls to read an article, or to send a payment with an API request without creating an account or providing a bank card. We think that developers will adopt it, as will AI agents for automated commerce. We’ve published an open source specification, and we’re already starting to see transactions coming through, which is great.

Is this opening up of the protocol a personal conviction? Or is it an obligation linked to the use of cryptos?

Today, most payments are made in USDC on the Base blockchain, but it could be any asset: Ethereum, Bitcoin, etc. Cryptos fulfil a number of functions: as a store of value (like Bitcoin, digital gold) or as a medium of exchange (with stablecoins like USDC). It’s mainly in this use that people use it.

And in Europe are we behind on stablecoins?

A little, yes. Most are backed by the dollar. There is a stablecoin based on the euro, EURC, which we support in partnership with Circle. When we talk to the ECB or the Bank of England, they are thinking about central bank digital currencies. If they want to issue one, fine. But we think that we also need to let the private market come up with solutions, because governments make good policies but don’t necessarily know how to build good products. The private market can do both, and create compliant, effective products. EURC could be a good solution for the EU. Every major economy, including Europe, should push for its own stablecoin. Otherwise, their currency risks losing relevance in the digital economy.

This article in French.