The Showdown Between Coinbase and Big Banks

WSJ Tech News Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

Tech News, News

4.3 • 1.7K Ratings

🗓️ 3 February 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Crypto exchange Coinbase has become the face of the crypto industry as the Trump administration prepares to decide the future of finance. WSJ reporter Amrith Ramkumar explains why Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is at the forefront of the growing chasm between crypto firms and big banks. Plus, WSJ reporter Angus Loten discusses why a disgruntled employee could be your company’s biggest cyber threat. Belle Lin hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free Technology newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:28.3	among real estate professionals. Welcome to Tech News briefing. It's Tuesday, February 3rd. I'm Bell Lynn for the Wall Street Journal.
0:40.3	Your deskmate, your boss, the colleague from across the office, could all be the internal source passing off information to hackers who want to steal data from your company.
0:51.3	We look at why so-called insider threats are on the rise,
0:55.9	and how now hackers are directly recruiting some corporate employees. Then Brian Armstrong, the
1:03.1	soft-spoken head of crypto exchange Coinbase, is clashing with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Diamond
1:09.8	and other bank leaders over the future
1:12.1	of finance. We look at how Armstrong has cultivated his persona to further Coinbase's agenda,
1:18.1	why bank CEOs are fighting to keep their turf, and how the Trump administration could change
1:23.7	the whole trajectory of both.
1:39.3	But first, roughly 32% of all data loss incidents at organizations worldwide over the past year involved a malicious insider. That's up from 20% in 2024, according to the cybersecurity firm proofpoint. And these malicious insiders are
1:46.6	your everyday employees. So what's driving them to be open to assisting with cyber attacks
1:53.0	on their own employers? WSJ cybersecurity reporter Angus Loughton is here to discuss the phenomenon.
2:00.0	Angus, company insiders helping cybercriminals is nothing new.
2:03.6	But what's behind this current wave of disgruntled workers who seem to be willing to risk at all?
2:09.6	For starters, this is a fascinating kind of story because it's an under-the-radar economic indicator
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