Coinbase CEO Stunt Exposes Prediction Market Vulnerability

Brian Armstrong

Photographer: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg

When Coinbase Global Inc.’s quarterly earnings call wrapped up Thursday, its chief executive, Brian Armstrong, didn’t finish with profit guidance or statements of confidence. He closed it out with a list: “Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain, staking and Web3.”

Those weren’t random buzzwords. They were part of an $84,000 betting market.