Coinbase CEO Garners Praise, Pushback for Prediction Market Shoutouts in Earnings Call

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong helped some prediction market users get paid during the company’s third-quarter earnings call Thursday, and he uttered a few words to please users who bet on him using prediction markets.

“I got a little distracted as I was following the prediction market of what Coinbase would announce on its next earnings call,” he said. “I would like to add the words ‘Bitcoin,’ ‘Ethereum,’ ‘Blockchain,’ ‘Staking,’ and ‘Web3’ here to make sure we understand before the call ends.”

Armstrong was tracking the mention market, a type of market that asks users what words they would say during a specific event. Such markets were available on prediction markets Kalshi and Polymarket, where users were asked to guess what Coinbase would say on its earnings call.

Mr. Armstrong’s last-minute inclusion increased the probability of words like “Web3” and “Ethereum” to nearly 100%, ultimately correcting his prediction that Coinbase representatives would say these words during a quarterly conference call.

The event allegedly stemmed from a member sharing a link to one of the markets in a chat with a Coinbase executive, who then posted on X. The stunt, which Armstrong called “fun,” drew mixed reviews from industry observers.

Although there were some calls for relocation, “wonderful”, or the co-founder of Coinbase as “ ”.Chad” Others have pointed out that Acts as a prediction market failure— and claimed it to be “A blatant example of insider trading”

“I’m tired of crown-based dumping, but if you think it’s cute or clever or shrewd that the CEO of the industry’s biggest company openly manipulated the market, you need to take a hard look at your head.” Arca CIO Jeff Dorman posted on X.

Coinbase representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment. decryption, But it was said bloomberg Mr. Armstrong’s comments were “a good-natured and candid way of addressing the online discussion surrounding the earnings call,” he said, adding that the company has an internal policy restricting employees from participating in prediction markets.

Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin defended Armstrong in a similar way on X, telling his followers that Armstrong thinks he’s having fun, and that the ETH icon “wants to be part of a fun-loving society.”

Mr. Armstrong’s last-minute statement did not contribute to much financial success, as the Polymarket and Calsi markets were illiquid, with total volumes of $4,000 and $80,000, respectively.

For example, the words “Web3” and “staking” that he hastily typed in at the last minute managed to manage less than $450 in total trading volume on Polymarket.

“Reemfao, Brian, you are a legend, but next time you have to balance it out and do a better job of “No Brothers.” Posted by Kalshi user after the stunt.

Both Polymarket and Kalshi have benefited from the recent surge in activity and hype surrounding prediction markets. Companies are Additional salary increase completed last month, We value each business in billions of dollars..

Coinbase exceeded third-quarter profit expectations due to increased revenue. COIN stock rose 6.37% to $349.44 on Friday.