The Milk Road Show Why Trillions in TradFi Capital Are Moving Onchain w/ Coinbase Exec Brian Foster
Feb 5, 2026
Brian Foster, leader of Crypto as a Service, ETFs, and Government at Coinbase, explains how Coinbase supports banks, asset managers, and fintechs moving onchain. He discusses why institutions rely on Coinbase for custody and trust. He explores stablecoins as global payment rails, Stablecoin as a Service, and accelerating tokenization of stocks, treasuries, and real‑world assets.
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Crypto Use Cases Broaden Beyond Trading
- Coinbase expanded from retail crypto access to payments and tokenization as institutions demanded broader use cases.
- Brian Foster frames institutional adoption as moving beyond trading into core plumbing for finance.
Institutional Infrastructure Mirrors TradFi Needs
- Coinbase built institutional-grade custody, prime brokerage, and financing to support the full trade lifecycle.
- Those capabilities let asset managers and hedge funds access crypto with familiar compliance and risk controls.
Stablecoins Became Real Payment Rails
- Stablecoins shifted from trading utilities to global payment rails for corporations and PSPs.
- Coinbase sees stablecoin payments as a large activation moment similar to ETFs for Bitcoin.