Brian Armstrong became one of the richest people in the world after Coinbase Global Inc. will be made public on Wednesday.
Coinbase, co-founded by Mr. Armstrong in 2012, ran the largest bitcoin exchange in the United States and was the first major cryptocurrency-focused company to go public in the country. At the start of the negotiation, it got a valuation of more than $ 100 billion, which would make 20% of Mr. Armstrong’s stake worth about $ 20 billion. That places the 38-year-old chief executive among the 100 richest people in the world, according to Forbes’ list of billionaires.
Still, Mr. Armstrong remains unknown outside of cryptographic circles and is an enigma within them. He is not the typical and brazen founder or cryptoevangelist of Silicon Valley. He rarely speaks to the press and attends few conferences. By the standards of this platform, your Twitter account is unusually quiet.
What drives him, said a number of people who have worked with him, is a firm focus on bringing bitcoin to the masses.
Mr. Armstrong was one of the first enthusiasts of the introduction in 2008 by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, bitcoin was designed as a digital version of cash.