Brian Armstrong, CEO of Cryptocurrency Exchange Coinbase, Becomes A Billionaire

While more than $600 billion of cryptocurrency wealth has been wiped out in the last several months amid a market meltdown, the man who facilitates a big chunk of the nation’s cryptocurrency trading has become a billionaire.

In late October, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange operator Coinbase, oversaw a financing round in which the company he cofounded raised $300 million at a valuation of $8 billion. At that valuation, Armstrong’s stake in Coinbase is worth an estimated $1.3 billion, after applying a customary discount for privately-held companies. In January, Forbes had estimated that Armstrong’s net worth was between $900 million and $1 billion.  

It is possible that Armstrong’s personal cryptocurrency holdings have taken a financial hit due to the plunging value of bitcoin, ether and other cryptocurrencies over the last several months. Armstrong co-founded Coinbase in 2012 and the company was…