# Coinbase Dossier **Coinbase** is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, founded in 2012 by [[Brian Armstrong]] and [[Fred Ehrsam]] and publicly traded on Nasdaq since 2021. It joined the S&P 500 in May 2025. It runs a trading app, an institutional custody business, its own blockchain network called Base, and a revenue-sharing deal on the USDC stablecoin with [[Circle]]. **Why it matters:** Coinbase is the main funder of [[Fairshake PAC]], the crypto industry's super PAC network, which entered 2026 with more than $193 million and has spent heavily to elect crypto-friendly candidates. Coinbase gave the network more than $75 million in the 2024 cycle and pledged $25 million for 2026. After the 2024 election the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its lawsuit against the company, and in April 2026 federal bank regulators gave it conditional approval for a national trust bank. Armstrong controls about half of the company's votes. **How to use this dossier:** Start with the main [[Coinbase]] page for the full story. The pages below go deeper. Because Coinbase is a public company, its quarterly reports, annual proxy statement and insider-trading filings with the SEC are the most reliable records, and the pages below draw on them. ## Who runs it, who owns it - [[Coinbase Leadership]] — the executives, the board, and how Armstrong's special shares give him control - [[Coinbase Investors]] — the largest shareholders and insider stock sales ## The money - [[Coinbase Financials]] — revenue and profit quarter by quarter, the USDC deal with Circle, and acquisitions - [[Coinbase Political Spending]] — money to the Fairshake super PAC network, inauguration and ballroom donations, and lobbying - [[Coinbase Regulatory File]] — the SEC case and its dismissal, state actions, the bank charter, the 2025 data breach and the fight over crypto legislation ## The latest - [[Coinbase Watch Log]] — news and developments about the company, newest first - [[Coinbase Calendar]] — dates coming up: earnings, the annual meeting, charter deadlines - [[Coinbase Events]] — major events involving the company, each with its own page ## Connections - **People:** [[Brian Armstrong]], [[Fred Ehrsam]], [[Emilie Choi]], [[Alesia Haas]], [[Marc Andreessen]], [[Chris Lehane]], [[Anthony Armstrong]] - **Political money:** [[Fairshake PAC]], [[Defend American Jobs]], [[Stand With Crypto]], [[2025 Trump Inaugural Fund]] - **Companies:** [[Circle]], [[Deribit]], [[Kalshi]], [[JPMorgan Chase]], [[Andreessen Horowitz]], [[World Liberty Financial]] - **Regulators and law:** [[SEC]], [[OCC]], [[OCC Charter Wave]], [[CLARITY Act]], [[GENIUS Act]], [[Paul Atkins]] - **Context:** [[Crypto-Political Machine]], [[Cryptocurrency Sector]], [[Crypto-Political Machine News Log]] ## See also - [[Coinbase]] — the main company page - [[World Liberty Financial Dossier]] — the Trump family's crypto company, whose USD1 stablecoin and WLFI token Coinbase lists - [[Erebor Dossier]] — another crypto-friendly company that won a federal bank charter under the same regulator - [[Companies Watchlist Hub]] — every company the wiki tracks closely