Coinbase Took a Hard Look at Saylor’s Bitcoin Strategy Before Opting Out

Armstrong acknowledged that Coinbase had “definitely” evaluated whether to commit the majority of its corporate reserves to Bitcoin. “There were definitely moments over the last 12 years where we thought, man, should we put 80% of our balance sheet into crypto—into Bitcoin specifically?” he said.

The idea echoed the approach taken by Michael Saylor, who has become a household name in the crypto industry for his aggressive Bitcoin accumulation strategy. Since 2020, Saylor’s firm has transformed itself from a software company into the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder, amassing around 555,450 BTC, worth approximately $58 billion as of May 12.

Yet despite the potential upside, Armstrong said Coinbase ultimately walked away from the idea, citing liquidity concerns, fiduciary obligations, and the company’s operational structure. “We’re not an investment vehicle,” he said. “We’re a crypto-native operating business. Our primary obligation is to our customers, not to maximize short-term BTC exposure.”

Instead of adopting a Bitcoin-heavy approach, Coinbase has gradually built a diversified crypto treasury, allocating a portion of retained earnings to digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. As of May 2025, the company holds approximately 9,480 BTC—valued at around $990 million—alongside other crypto assets. While the full portfolio breakdown and recent quarterly additions are not publicly detailed, Coinbase’s holdings reflect a strategic, measured alignment with the broader crypto ecosystem rather than a singular Bitcoin focus.

Alesia Haas, Coinbase’s Chief Financial Officer, clarified that the company’s strategy is intentionally cautious. “To be clear, we're an operating company,” Haas said. “Our crypto investments are designed to reflect our support for the ecosystem, not to compete with customers or become a speculative vehicle.”

Coinbase’s current holdings include a mix of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several other assets that align with its listed products and services. The company has previously stated that its treasury policy is driven by long-term alignment with the crypto economy rather than short-term gains.

By contrast, Strategy under Michael Saylor has taken the opposite approach. The firm has repeatedly tapped equity and debt markets to fund its Bitcoin purchases, treating the digital asset as its primary treasury reserve. This aggressive posture has delivered massive paper gains during bull markets, but has also exposed the company to severe volatility and multi-billion-dollar unrealized losses during downturns.

In the first quarter of 2025, Strategy reported a $5.91 billion unrealized loss on its Bitcoin holdings, according to SEC filings. Nevertheless, the company remains committed to its “Bitcoin first” mandate. “Bitcoin is not speculation for us—it’s strategy,” Saylor stated in a March interview. “We’re not diversifying away from it. We’re doubling down.”

Saylor has also aligned himself closely with political forces in Washington, including current U.S. President Donald Trump, who has publicly supported Bitcoin.

Coinbase’s decision reflects a broader tension within the crypto industry: Should companies lean into Bitcoin maximalism as a brand and balance sheet strategy or hedge across a broader spectrum of assets and use cases?

Armstrong suggested that part of Coinbase’s hesitation stemmed from regulatory and brand concerns. “We didn’t want to look like we were just making a bet with customer money,” he said. “We want to be aligned with users and regulators as we push for broader crypto adoption.”

Regulatory scrutiny may also have played a role. As a publicly traded firm under intense oversight from the SEC and other agencies, Coinbase faces a different risk profile than Strategy. Any perceived overexposure to Bitcoin could complicate its licensing efforts in Europe, ongoing negotiations with U.S. regulators, and its evolving product roadmap, which includes a growing institutional business, derivatives platform, and blockchain infrastructure.

The diverging paths of Coinbase and Strategy underscore a fundamental philosophical divide in the crypto space. One strategy bets it all on Bitcoin as a monetary revolution. The other treats crypto as a broader technological paradigm, requiring a more diversified and measured approach.

Investors seem to be responding to both. While Coinbase stock (COIN) is down roughly 17% year-to-date amid mixed earnings and market uncertainty, Strategy’s shares (MSTR) continue to move closely with Bitcoin’s price, amplifying both its gains and losses."

Ultimately, Armstrong’s remarks suggest that Coinbase is focused on establishing itself as a foundational player in the evolving crypto ecosystem—supporting Bitcoin, but prioritizing broader infrastructure over allegiance to any single asset.