Ep 72 | Exporting Economic Freedom with Brian Armstrong of Coinbase

Brian Armstrong is one of the crypto ecosystem’s most influential pioneers. As the Co-Founder and CEO of Coinbase, one of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, Brian has seen – and helped drive – the growth of blockchain-based networks from obscurity to widespread adoption. In their Money Movement conversation, Brian and Jeremy discussed how the crypto economy can extend global financial inclusion, economic freedom, and opportunity to millions who’ve been excluded. To take just one example, Brian shared how mortgages to buy homes are very difficult to obtain in Argentina. The result? Only the richest citizens own homes; the rest are limited to renting, shutting off one of the great sources of wealth creation. Brian believes crypto markets can vastly expand economic freedom and access to credit in places like Argentina, empowering a new culture of ownership and helping to dissolve decades of inequality. But to get there, Jeremy and Brian agreed, we must face what’s holding crypto back. One big “unlock,” in their view, is regulatory clarity. Another is the scalability of blockchains. They noted what the jump from dial-up to broadband made possible online. A third factor is a usability. Much of the current crypto interface, they said, is too difficult to use.  Brian and Jeremy discussed the regulatory impulse to restrict open networks, fundamental rights that shouldn’t compromise in the name of fighting bad actors, and the importance of educating people about crypto’s enormous potential beyond the transfer of financial value. *Circle and Coinbase are co-founders of the Centre Consortium, a joint venture aimed at establishing a standard for fiat on the internet and providing a governance framework and network for the global, mainstream adoption of fiat stablecoins.