Armstrong argues that AI gives defenders the ability to scan all code before production, flipping the traditional attacker-defender imbalance
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has publicly stated that AI will improve software security by empowering defenders to comprehensively scan all code before it ever reaches production.
Coinbase is already deep into the AI experiment #
Since mid-2025, the company has mandated the use of AI coding tools like Cursor and Copilot across its engineering organization. By September 2025, approximately 40% of daily code at Coinbase was AI-generated, with an internal target to push past 50%.
During Coinbase’s May 2026 earnings call, Armstrong drew a comparison to self-driving cars, suggesting that AI-enhanced code review processes could produce safer outcomes than purely human intervention, even though human oversight remains a critical checkpoint in the process.
Beyond code: AI is reshaping Coinbase’s operations #
Account restriction resolutions are now being handled about 90% faster than before. Each outcome still gets human validation, but the heavy lifting of sorting through cases, identifying patterns, and flagging the right resolution is handled by AI.
In June 2026, the company introduced Coinbase Advisor, an SEC-registered AI investment advisor. Earlier, it launched agentic wallets designed for machine-to-machine transactions.
What this means for investors and the broader market #
If 40% of code is AI-generated and that number keeps climbing, the company’s engineering output per dollar spent should improve meaningfully over time. Investors watching this space should pay attention to two metrics over the coming quarters: the percentage of AI-generated code at Coinbase and the frequency of security incidents.
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