After Armstrong changed his X avatar to BRIAN-linked artwork on July 16, the Base memecoin surged from about $1 million to nearly $37 million, then drew backlash and collapsed more than 85%.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his X account should not be treated as a meme coin trading signal after a July 16 profile picture change tied to the BRIAN token helped trigger a sharp, short-lived rally on Base, Coinbase’s layer-2 network on Ethereum. The move also prompted social media criticism, though crypto figure Taylor Monahan described the backlash as “manufactured outrage” rather than a genuine wave of anger. Armstrong changed his X avatar to artwork linked to BRIAN, also known as Coinbase Man. Within hours, the token’s market capitalization rose about 37-fold from roughly $1 million to nearly $37 million before reversing after he restored his previous image. The market cap then fell by more than 85% in less than a day, and BeInCrypto data later showed it near $224,000, below its pre-rally level. In a lengthy X post, Armstrong said criticism from Base community members over his limited support was fair, but stressed that he would never recommend using his account as market alpha, or an informational edge for trading. He said he supports the economic freedom to trade meme coins and will continue posting content he personally finds funny, but his posts and profile pictures are not endorsements or commitments to any project. He added that neither he nor Base creator Jesse Pollak will promote coins on demand, and that compliance and regulatory rules prevent many tokens from listing on Coinbase.