Coinbase’s Armstrong Angers Bitcoin Maximalists by Praising Ethereum’s Buterin

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has heaped praise on Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin in his recent social media post.

The Ethereum whitepaper was published 12 years ago today.

Ethereum changed the course of crypto by giving builders greater tools – including a Turing complete language!

Shoutout to @VitalikButerin, the Ethereum co-founders, and the entire Ethereum community. So many of the…

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) November 27, 2025

Naturally, the post did not sit well with Bitcoin maximalists, who were quick to describe Ethereum as “centralized pseudo-money” and “fiat.”

No it was a step backwards. Reliance on a centralized banking system figure, CEO, foundation or team is centralization and no different than fiat.

All centralization will end the same. Corruption. Greed. And inflation.

Ethereum is centralized pseudo money.

— Metteyya (@therealmetteyya) November 27, 2025

Diverging paths

The first known meeting between Armstrong and Buterin happened in 2013 at a Bitcoin conference in San Jose. At the time, Buterin was writing for Bitcoin Magazine. Armstrong later recalled that he found Buterin’s writing impressive.

Some months later, Armstrong invited Buterin to visit the new first office of Coinbase (which Armstrong co-founded and runs) in San Francisco.

The Coinbase team was interested, and they considered hiring Buterin. But things didn’t work out because Buterin was unable to get a U.S. work visa. This visa issue forced him to return to Canada.

In Canada, Buterin published the white paper for Ethereum to great fanfare. The revolutionary document laid out the foundation for smart contracts, decentralized applications, and a programmable blockchain beyond simple digital currency.

Over the years, both men have been recognized among the “top young influencers” in crypto/tech. In 2017, Armstrong and Buterin both appeared in the influential list Fortune “40 Under 40.”

Controversial listing

Ethereum, after its 2015 launch, quickly grew into the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Coinbase had built a reputation as a leading U.S.-based crypto exchange, initially focused on Bitcoin trading. However, Ethereum was first listed on Coinbase in July 2016.

The listing of Ethereum on Coinbase proved to be extremely controversial among Bitcoin maximalists.

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