Coinbase CEO Encourages Crypto Community to Stay Strong Through Bear Markets
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has taken to Twitter to a share a motivational message to employees and the crypto community, encouraging them to stay optimistic through the wild fluctuations of the cryptocurrency market and stating that downturns and bear runs are the ideal time for Coinbase to make progress as a company.
In a series of Tweets shared on June 19, Armstrong noted the repetitive history of Bitcoin bubbles throughout 2013, 2014, and 2017, stating that the crypto industry is like no other he’s seen. The crypto market states Armstrong, follows a pattern of up and down cycles that reach a new plateau every time. Once you’ve been in the market long enough, according to Armstrong, crypto cycles seem like “old news.”
1/ Shared the following message with the team @coinbase today… pic.twitter.com/XDNDZfCtOp
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) June 19, 2018
Market Downturns Are Good for Crypto
Armstrong’s tweets, first shared internally with Coinbase employees, highlight the transient nature of cryptocurrency market sentiment, noting that although the market may appear to respond to emotional drivers, transactions per day and other real-world evidence of crypto adoption are far better indicators of blockchain industry health than crypto prices:
“When there is hype, people are irrationally exuberant. When there is despair, people are irrationally pessimistic. Neither is true. Reality is always somewhere in the middle, more correlated with real usage (transactions per day) than the price.”
The Coinbase team has significantly increased in size due to the execution of a recent initiative to double the headcount of Coinbase employees, bringing in a range of new talent that perhaps isn’t as familiar with the wild swings of the crypto market.
Frequent fluctuations in the price of Bitcoin and other cryptos, states Armstrong, are good for the industry, removing market participants who are motivated to get involved for the wrong reasons:
“After many years of this, I’ve come to enjoy the down cycles in crypto prices more. It gets rid of the people who are in it for the wrong reasons, and it gives us an opportunity to keep making progress while everyone else gets distracted. We use the down cycles to build a strong foundation so we can thrive in the next growth cycle.”
Coinbase is Shifting the World to an Open Financial System
Armstrong encourages Coinbase employees and, via Twitter, the cryptocurrency community at large, to avoid focusing on the fear, uncertainty, and doubt generated by sensational headlines and dramatic shifts in crypto prices.
“I want to encourage you all to ignore the price of crypto and the headlines which will inevitably start to come up. Our job is to rise above that, finding our own intrinsic source of motivation, to come in and do our best work, regardless of what other people think.”
Armstrong’s message highlights the fact that Coinbase is focused on the crypto industry long-term, complementing a number of recent announcements from the platform that include the launch of the long-awaited Coinbase Index Fund and the maturation of Coinbase custodial solutions for large-scale institutional investors:
“Together we can stay focused on the long-term, and shift the world toward an open financial system.”