Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that Base’s coin strategy failed and confirmed that the network changed direction in early 2026.
Summary
- Brian Armstrong admitted that Base’s coin strategy failed and said that the network had changed course before.
- Base now prioritizes trading, payments and AI agents, with more resources allocated to trading infrastructure.
- Public criticism focused on Zora’s promotion, loss of users and weak long-term reliability from token testing.
His comments followed criticism from community members questioning Base’s support for Zora-based tokens and creator-centric testing.
Armstrong responded to X in a post arguing that the projects failed to create lasting user loyalty and left some sellers with losses.
“They didn’t work and we voted earlier this year. It’s a waste, time to turn the page,” he wrote.
Armstrong responds to the Basis of criticism of the coin
The criticism came from SmileyXBT, who said that Base spent more than a year promoting Zora and gave more attention to projects connected to former Coinbase employees. The post also asks for creator coins tied to celebrities and Base team members.
The critic named tokens linked to investor Balaji Srinivasan and Base founder Jesse Pollak among examples where traders lost money. Armstrong agreed with the coin’s criticism of the content but rejected the claim that Base has shifted its focus too much to AI agents.
The foundation shifts resources to commercial infrastructure
Armstrong said Base is now focused on commerce, payments and AI agents, in that sense. He added that the areas are connecting because payment services require foreign currency, while AI agents can use trading and payment tools.
“A lot of utilities are going to trade right now,” Armstrong said. He acknowledged that the direction of the Base may not yet be clear to outside users.
The official website of Base presents trading, payments and agents as its main solutions. Its 2026 strategy also lists global markets and stablecoin payments among its priorities, as well as support for developers building onchain applications.
Zora push ran a fast token launch
Promoted content coins based on its social app in 2025. The system used Zora contracts to convert posts into tradable tokens, allowing creators to receive payments when users trade their content.
As previously reported, the model helped Base surpass Solana in daily token launches in August 2025. More than 1.6 million tokens were launched within weeks, while nearly three million traders generated approximately $470 million in volume.
The work did not resolve whether content coins can produce sustainable communities. Reports at the time said most of the activity came from short-term traders looking for a quick profit rather than long-term participation.
AI ambassadors are always part of the broader Coinbase program
Armstrong said Base has not changed its social strategy with AI agents. Instead, he described agents as part of a system built for transactions and payments.
Coinbase expands its agent tools throughout 2026. The company introduces Agentic Wallets that allow software agents to hold funds, trade tokens and make payments. It later launched Coinbase for Agents, which connects AI systems to trading tools and portfolios.
Base also introduced Base MCP, a tool that allows users to manage wallet actions supported by AI chat systems while maintaining transaction authorization. The network promoted x402 as a way for software agents to pay for internet services using stablecoins.
Armstrong’s statement marks the public’s break with the money it has reinvested as a moderate growth plan. Base now directs more resources to the trading infrastructure while continuing to work on payments and agent-based products.
