Coinbase CEO faces backlash over 'shi**er' BALAJIS token

Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong isn’t the one who shies away from voicing his opinion. Recently, he hailed the crypto exchange’s former CTO Balaji Srinivasan for making an enormous contribution during his stint.

In a recent conversation with Stripe co-founder John Collison, Armstrong called Balaji “probably one of the top couple smartest people” he had ever met in his life, who helped him become “a better CEO.”

However, the admiration goes a long way.

On Aug. 23, Armstrong shared a screenshot on X which showed his purchase of around 5 million BALAJIS crypto tokens.

BALAJIS is a creator coin tied to Balaji Srinivasan’s personal brand that is created on Zora, a protocol that allows minting of brand-driven tokens. Creator coins like BALAJIS have contributed enormously to the success of Base, the Coinbase-backed Ethereum layer-2 blockchain.

However, Armstrong’s post invited some backlash from the crypto community.

Dylan Loomer, a popular crypto influencer who co-founded the crypto proprietary trading firm Breakout, wasn’t pleased. Known as @Tradermayne on X, he accused Armstrong of posting about a “shitter.”

The billionaire CEO came out strongly in support of BALAJIS and said a piece of Srinivasan’s content isn’t a “shitter.” One can trade any coin they like, and he only shared an example, Armstrong added.

A popular crypto trader account, known as @BigCheds on X, wondered if Armstrong faced any ethical dilemma while “posting something like this.” The CEO said he wasn’t at all conflicted about this and was going to keep supporting creators on Base.

It’s clear Armstrong holds Balaji in high regard and will often walk the talk when it comes to his crypto bro.

The BALAJIS token was trading at $0.0164 at the time of writing as per CoinGecko, up 75% in 24 hours.

Story ContinuesDisclaimer: The content above is intended for informational purposes only and should not be taken as financial advice. Do your own research before investing.

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Aug 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

View Comments