Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shocked the both the investing and betting worlds when he ended the company’s earnings call with five words: Bitcoin, Ethereum, blockchain, staking, and Web3. The reason he uttered them had nothing to with earnings - but had everything to do with prediction market wagers.
Key Takeaways
- Prediction markets allow users to wager on events, including elections, award show results, and even what is said during earnings calls.
- Coinbase is a leading cryptocurrency exchange with a quarterly trading activity of nearly $60 billion.
- During Coinbase’s earnings call, CEO Brian Armstrong said the words he knew would move prediction markets.
Armstrong had a reason to feel frisky Thursday during the company’s Q3 2025 earnings call. The cryptocurrency exchange company earned $1.50 per share, up from just $0.28 per share in the same period a year ago. Revenues tied to transactions were up 37% from Q2.
Or maybe Armstrong was just getting into the holiday “trick or treat” spirit. Whatever the reason, listeners were stunned when he said five words that were tied to prediction market wagers.
Prediction markets offer wagers on any number of events. In the case of Coinbase, there were markets for specific words Brian Armstrong would say during the company conference call. And he shocked everyone - by saying every word before the end of the call.
"I was a little distracted because I was tracking the prediction market about what Coinbase will say on their next earnings call, and I just want to, you know, add here the words 'Bitcoin,' Ethereum,' 'blockchain,' 'staking,' and 'Web3' to make sure we get those in before the end of the call," he said.
Social media went into a frenzy, with posts such as:
“Wait, is this real?”
“I love this so much.”
“Honey we’re eating meatloaf for dinner. I just got rinsed by Brian Armstrong.”
“This is insane.”
Armstrong later explained he spontaneously responded when his team dropped a link in chat, and he had "fun" doing it.
lol this was fun - happened spontaneously when someone on our team dropped a link in the chat https://t.co/tQiV3B9jUj
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) October 31, 2025
Clearly, this demonstrates Armstrong’s affinity for a little mischief-making. But it also demonstrates how easily insiders can move prediction markets.
