On 10 September 2026, in an interview with CNBC Squawk Box Asia, Brian Armstrong, the head of Coinbase, called a Bitcoin price of $400 000 by 2030 a "reasonable target." He added that the bottom of the current cycle has already been passed, and that the next year or two promise to be strong for the cryptocurrency. This statement came amid trading around $77 000 and a year after his own forecast of $1 million.
For Armstrong, such a step is no accident. The founder of Coinbase, who built the company on a belief in mass cryptocurrency adoption, has already adjusted his public targets more than once. In 2025, he cited regulatory clarity, a strategic Bitcoin reserve and the inflow of institutional money through ETFs. By 2026, these factors had not fully worked: the market did not show the expected takeoff, and Coinbase had to cut staff. Lowering the bar to $300–400 thousand looks like an attempt to preserve trust without losing the optimism that fuels the exchange's business.
Armstrong's public image is that of an optimistic techie who sees Bitcoin as "digital gold" and pushes regulators toward the Clarity Act. The documented history shows something else: he consistently ties his forecasts to political and market events that benefit Coinbase. When the regulatory environment improves, targets rise; when the cycle drags on, targets fall, but remain above current prices. This is not an abandonment of faith, but a calculation aimed at keeping customers and investors seeing Coinbase as the main venue for long-term growth.
The event confirms a persistent pattern: Armstrong does not change course under pressure, but adapts his rhetoric so that it matches reality without undermining his institutional position. He acts not only as CEO but also as a public defender of the industry, whose reputation directly affects the flow of capital to his platform. The silence about the previous target of $1 million is more eloquent than words — it shows where the line runs between personal conviction and corporate necessity.
Like a captain who adjusts the ship's course without changing the destination, Armstrong demonstrates how tech company leaders balance vision and the market. His statement is not merely a forecast but a signal that Coinbase remains in the game even when the wind blows less strongly than one would like.
In the end, this is a moment when reputation and business merge: lowering ambitions makes it possible to preserve influence and continue lobbying in Washington without risking looking out of touch with reality.
