Brian Armstrong

The CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase Global took the company public in April at a nearly $86 billion valuation. In September, the former Airbnb software engineer railed against the Securities and Exchange Commission for threatening to sue Coinbase if it launched a new lending product. Armstrong claimed the SEC was engaged in “sketchy behavior” for refusing to explain why it was deeming the product an unregistered investment security; Coinbase later canceled the launch.