Crypto billionaire Brian Armstrong is calling for an overhaul to U.S. investment law and a redesign of the existing accredited investor framework—a decades-old gatekeeping system that determines which Americans can invest in private companies before they go public.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong speaks onstage on Dec. 3, 2025.
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Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, took to X late Monday night to slam accredited investor laws as upholding a "rich get richer" system and making it "illegal" for people who aren't already wealthy to benefit from early investment in promising companies.
The rules—which allow only "accredited investors" who can prove a certain level of wealth to invest in a company privately—are what keep ordinary Americans from investing in start-up funding rounds and other early opportunities before a company’s initial public offering.
By the time an IPO takes place and retail investors can buy stock, Armstrong argues “much of the upside has already been captured” and says everyday Americans are then fighting for limited returns, while accredited investors have already benefited.
Armstrong proposed two alternatives: replacing existing income and net worth requirements with a financial literacy test, or eliminating the accreditation standard entirely while preserving existing disclosure rules and fraud enforcement.
"These rules were created with the best of intentions, to protect regular people from scams—a noble idea," Armstrong said. “Unfortunately, in practice they've often made it illegal to get richer, unless you're already rich. A regressive tax!”
Billionaire investor Mark Cuban took a swipe at Armstrong Tuesday, responding with a quippy: "Just sell em MemeCoins Brian !" Cuban’s post implied memecoins are one way retail investors can chase big returns without needing accredited status, but crypto fans said his cheeky jab was a sign of his "bitterness.” The sass also led to the creation of CUBEN, a Solana (CRYPTO: SOL) meme coin parodying him, Benzinga reported.
Accredited investors can participate in private investments that are generally unavailable to the public—including private startup funding rounds, venture capital funds, private equity funds and hedge funds—before those investments become publicly traded. Under current Securities and Exchange Commission rules, a person must earn more than $200,000 annually—or $300,000 with a spouse—or hold a net worth of at least $1 million, excluding a primary residence, to be considered an “accredited investor.” The SEC expanded the definition in 2020 to include certain licensed financial professionals, but the core wealth thresholds have been the same for decades. The rules were originally designed to ensure investors could absorb potential losses, but critics argue they effectively reserve the highest-growth phase of private companies for wealthy individuals and institutional funds. As companies delay public listings, which Armstrong argues is becoming more common, everyday retail investors are gaining investment access only after valuations have already compounded through multiple private funding rounds.
A Senate floor vote on the CLARITY Act. The proposed legislation— which counts Coinbase among its more than 200 corporate backers—wouldn’t change the definition of accredited investors but could set a legislative precedent for how broadly Congress is willing to reshape retail access to financial markets.
Armstrong, a former Airbnb software engineer who cofounded Coinbase in 2012, has an estimated net worth of $8.2 billion Tuesday.
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