Coinbase aims to become a "full-category exchange" in the digital asset space and the "AWS" in the crypto infrastructure sector.

Interviewee: Shan Aggarwal, Coinbase CBO

Written by: Sandy Carter, Forbes

Translated by: Saoirse, Foresight News

Editor’s Note: This article is a translation of Forbes' interview with Shan Aggarwal, the first Chief Business Officer of Coinbase. Shan Aggarwal previously served as the head of Coinbase Ventures for seven years and also held the position of Vice President of Corporate and Business Development at the company. In this interview, he shares insights on Coinbase's core strategy, product expansion, institutional partnerships, international layout, and discusses the prospects of stablecoins and strategies for navigating market cycles. Through his perspective, we gain a glimpse into Coinbase's genuine thoughts and strategic planning regarding product innovation, market expansion, and regulatory responses, providing key information for a deeper understanding of the development trends in Coinbase and the entire cryptocurrency industry. Below is the interview content.

In September 2024, Coinbase's first Chief Business Officer Shan Aggarwal hosted a fireside chat with Coinbase co-founders Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam III at the annual Coinbase Ventures summit.

In recent weeks, I had the privilege of an in-depth conversation with Shan Aggarwal, the newly appointed Chief Business Officer (CBO) of Coinbase. This position is a first for the cryptocurrency exchange. Shan Aggarwal's background breaks the mold of traditional tech executives: he initially focused on the medical field, holding a Bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience from UCLA, before transitioning into the cryptocurrency industry, gradually becoming a leading figure in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and partnerships in the field.

From overseeing Coinbase's Series E funding in 2018 to managing financing and capital market affairs during its public listing in 2021, and now becoming one of the youngest executives in the Fortune 500, Shan Aggarwal's leadership coincides with a critical juncture in Coinbase's development. With the current surge in institutional demand for cryptocurrencies and an increasingly clear regulatory environment, Shan Aggarwal carries an important mission—to propel Coinbase into its next growth phase, surpassing its original positioning as a retail trading platform.

Here are his insights on the company's strategy, market outlook, and vision for the mainstream future of cryptocurrencies.

Q1: As the Chief Business Officer of Coinbase, what are your core responsibilities?

As the Chief Business Officer, my core responsibility is to closely connect all aspects of Coinbase's growth engine. I oversee regulatory ecosystem partnerships, business operations and strategic planning, data and data analytics, corporate mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and investment affairs. My role can be seen as a "bridge" between the product team and market opportunities, clarifying what the company "should do" and planning "how to execute it."

In September 2024, at the annual Coinbase Ventures summit, Shan Aggarwal took a photo with Brian Armstrong, Jesse Pollak, and members of the Coinbase Ventures team.

My focus is on driving the development of Coinbase—not just to build it into a trading platform but to make it the infrastructure that supports the entire cryptocurrency economy. This means we need to collaborate with institutions, retail partners, and emerging projects to deeply integrate cryptocurrencies into the core of the global financial infrastructure.

Q2: Under your leadership, what are the three core priorities for Coinbase?

First, we focus on creating top-tier trading products by increasing support for assets beyond cryptocurrencies to meet traders' needs. This includes categories like stocks, futures, perpetual futures, crypto-native assets, and prediction markets.

Second, we leverage the platform we have built to drive the application of cryptocurrencies among institutions. Currently, there is a strong demand for crypto services from enterprises, and our platform is "ready to use" for partners, enabling them to offer cryptocurrency trading, staking, and other services to end users.

Third, we focus on payment services to promote the widespread use of stablecoins. We are developing products that support first-party payments while building a cryptocurrency payment platform for other businesses to use. Throughout these priority tasks, we always consider international expansion as an important direction: continuously expanding our global business footprint and fulfilling our corporate mission of "expanding economic freedom for individuals and businesses around the world."

Q3: What growth trends do you foresee for Coinbase in the current market cycle?

The core of today's growth is "quality over quantity." We will not pursue superficial "vanity metrics," but rather deepen our relationships with high-value customers and expand our share of their cryptocurrency needs. This means we need to broaden our service offerings—not just trading, but also savings, spending, financing, and more, to enhance our deep interaction with customers.

We also see significant growth opportunities in the B2B space—not limited to directly serving end consumers but supporting other companies' crypto strategies. We refer to this model as "crypto as a service." As the regulatory environment becomes clearer, we can provide white-label solutions and infrastructure APIs, helping other businesses integrate crypto functionalities quickly without starting from scratch.

The ecosystem of enterprise builders is vast. Think of those fintech companies, payment processors, and traditional businesses that want to incorporate crypto functionalities but are reluctant to deal with compliance, asset custody, or technical complexities—we can become their "crypto pillar." This is evident from our partnership cases: BlackRock and PNC utilize our infrastructure to offer institutional crypto services, while companies like Perplexity integrate crypto data into their platforms.

These collaborations are "disruptive" because they allow users who "have never downloaded a crypto app" to access cryptocurrencies. We are not only expanding our direct user base but also promoting the widespread application of cryptocurrencies in the entire digital economy. This model helps us broaden the end-user base of our services and accelerate the practical application of cryptocurrencies.

Q4: From Coinbase's perspective, what are your predictions for stablecoins and their regulatory outlook?

Stablecoins are a "platform-level transformative force" in the payment space. We believe that all asset classes globally will eventually be "tokenized," and stablecoins are among the first and most important categories. The current regulatory environment is becoming increasingly clear, which not only legitimizes stablecoins but also lays a solid foundation for their development—such as establishing a unified framework for reserve requirements, transparency, and other key elements.

I foresee a "differentiation" in the future: compliant and transparent stablecoins will be distinctly different from other types of stablecoins. The ultimate winners will be those operators who work closely with regulators rather than oppose them. We have already seen stablecoins increasingly integrate into the traditional financial system, and this trend will continue—because stablecoins provide a more efficient, global, and cost-effective channel for the circulation of dollars.

In summary, the digital economy needs digital currencies, and stablecoins are the "missing piece" of this puzzle. Following the introduction of the GENIUS Act, Coinbase has a unique advantage in the stablecoin space due to its extensive USDC distribution channels and its ability to offer industry-leading rewards.

Q5: How will Coinbase position itself for the next round of cryptocurrency bull and bear markets?

We always take a long-term view and develop strategies around different market cycles. During bear markets, we focus on expanding our infrastructure to support the next wave of cryptocurrency applications while investing in long-term projects and teams; during bull markets, we concentrate on optimizing customer experience and innovating new products.

We are heavily investing in building the Coinbase platform—because we believe that as the regulatory environment clarifies, more and more enterprises will enter the crypto space. At the same time, we are developing new revenue sources that are less correlated with trading volume, such as stablecoin interest, custody fees, and staking rewards. Our goal is to ensure that regardless of market price fluctuations, the company possesses "anti-fragile" capabilities.

Q6: What is Coinbase's acceleration strategy, and what role will traditional finance play in the mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies?

Traditional finance will serve as a "key bridge" for the mainstreaming of cryptocurrencies—connecting traditional systems with decentralized financial ecosystems. As the Chief Business Officer, I believe that partnerships with institutions like JPMorgan and American Express are crucial for accelerating the application of cryptocurrencies. These collaborations not only expand the accessibility of cryptocurrencies and lower the barriers for consumers but also integrate cryptocurrencies into everyday financial activities like payments and rewards programs.

In June 2025, Shan took the stage at the Coinbase cryptocurrency summit with American Express Senior Vice President Will Stredwick to discuss the new Coinbase One credit card (which is an American Express card).

With the trust foundation and infrastructure of traditional finance, we can attract the next wave of users into the crypto space, helping millions of people around the world achieve their goal of "economic freedom."

This trend is already becoming evident: institutions that were previously skeptical of cryptocurrencies are now exploring how to custody Bitcoin for their clients; asset management firms are looking to launch cryptocurrency ETFs and index products; payment companies are seeking channels for stablecoin circulation. Our responsibility is to provide secure and compliant infrastructure to help them participate in the crypto space. It can be said that traditional finance and cryptocurrencies are "moving closer together," and Coinbase is the "bridge" between the two.

Q7: In emerging crypto fields like DeFi, NFTs, and RWAs, which areas present the greatest opportunities for Coinbase?

Currently, the potential in the RWAs (Real World Assets) space is the most prominent.

Tokenizing various assets, from real estate to commodities, not only unlocks new markets but also creates liquidity in areas that previously lacked it. DeFi is also maturing—no longer limited to "yield farming," it is gradually becoming the core of a new type of legitimate financial infrastructure. At Coinbase, we firmly believe that the future of all asset classes will be "tokenized," and we are concentrating resources on building the infrastructure to bring this vision to fruition.

The key is to find application scenarios that can "massively solve real problems," rather than merely promoting speculative activities in the crypto-native field (although speculative activities do have their value).

Q8: How will Coinbase balance its response to international expansion and regulatory challenges in the U.S.?

We are excited about the measures the U.S. is taking to enhance regulatory transparency, but we also see tremendous opportunities globally—many markets have clearer regulatory rules, making opportunities easier to realize.

Regions like Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America are making rapid progress in cryptocurrency regulation and application, and we are actively keeping pace: by establishing local partnerships and building customized compliance capabilities for different regions to adapt to the development needs of each market. The U.S. remains our key market, but we will not limit our global ambitions due to the "still-imperfect regulatory framework" at home. Cryptocurrency is a global trend, and we are committed to making Coinbase a global leader in this field.

Q9: What is Coinbase's acquisition strategy? Does the company prefer "in-house development" or "acquisition and integration" for building core capabilities?

We have remained active in the acquisition space and will continue to do so in the future. We believe that acquisitions are central to the company's growth engine and are an important capability we have built over the years. After determining our strategic direction, we always evaluate execution paths from three dimensions: "in-house development, acquisition and integration, and win-win cooperation."

Core platform capabilities are primarily developed in-house—this is the foundation of the company and needs to be deeply integrated with the existing platform.

Acquisitions focus on opportunities that can "accelerate strategic implementation," such as acquiring differentiated technologies, expertise, licenses, or established businesses. Recent examples include the acquisition of the leading crypto options exchange Deribit and the on-chain advertising protocol and exchange Spindl.

Through these acquisitions, we can enhance product capabilities and cultivate new revenue growth points. At the same time, we value talent and will introduce professional teams through small-scale "talent acquisitions." The key to successful acquisitions lies in "integration"—only when the acquired business strengthens the core platform, rather than becoming an isolated "information silo," does the acquisition hold true value.

Q10: What positioning do you hope Coinbase will represent in five years?

I hope Coinbase can become the "preferred platform for users, institutions, and their end customers to store and grow wealth." Customers should clearly know that through our trustworthy and user-friendly products, they can gain unique opportunities. This is precisely our direction: to build a "full-category exchange" and a mature financial platform—where users can "one-stop trade for all desired assets," conveniently achieve wealth growth, and manage daily finances, all based on crypto technology.

Additionally, I hope Coinbase can become synonymous with "crypto infrastructure"—just as AWS (Amazon Web Services) is in the cloud computing space. Base (the blockchain network under Coinbase) is building the future on-chain economy, supporting on-chain crypto applications across finance, social, and other fields. Whether you are a startup issuing tokens, a bank providing crypto services, or a country exploring digital currencies, Coinbase can be your trusted infrastructure partner. We aim to be a "necessity" rather than an "option," supporting innovation across all industries related to the crypto space.

New Insights from Shan Aggarwal's Sharing

Through my conversation with Shan Aggarwal, I have come to realize that Coinbase is not just preparing for the next cryptocurrency bull market; it is also building infrastructure for the "long-term future of cryptocurrency." The company's strategic core is not about chasing short-term trends but integrating cryptocurrency into everyday finance—from promoting institutional applications to expanding stablecoin scenarios and laying out international markets. Shan Aggarwal clearly stated that the most important "growth lever" at this stage is: high-quality growth, deepening customer relationships, and becoming the "crypto pillar" for enterprises.

I also see more clearly Coinbase's ambition: to become a "full-category exchange" in the digital asset space and the "AWS" in the crypto infrastructure sector. Whether it is the tokenization of real-world assets, creating compliant and trustworthy stablecoins, or building a bridge between traditional finance and Web3, Shan Aggarwal's vision remains clear: Coinbase not only wants to "participate in the future of currency" but also to "define the future of currency."

This is a bold mission, and I will continue to follow every step Coinbase takes in the future.

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