The Coinbase IPO kicked off a new era in crypto—or did it?

Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong got two big things right: He understood early on that bitcoin was a trillion-dollar opportunity, and that regular people would need a simple, regulator-friendly way to access it. In typical tech-company fashion, Coinbase has a lofty mission: “to use cryptocurrency to bring economic freedom to people all over the world.” When Coinbase went public in April, some saw it as a critical moment for the crypto sector the nine-year-old company helped build.