For decades, banks operated as vertically integrated monopolies over money. If anyone wanted to store value, move funds, earn yield, or access credit, they had to go through a licensed intermediary with branch networks, correspondent banking relationships, and legacy core infrastructure.
Crypto exchanges, originally built around order books, matching engines, and custody for trading digital assets, are now challenging these incumbents. Over the past few years, they have been accumulating financial primitives, expanding beyond trading into payments, lending, staking, remittances, etc.
Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange software platform, has openly announced ambitious plans to reinvent the global financial landscape. In the words of Brian Armstrong, its CEO: