Five years ago, Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, asked employees of the cryptocurrency exchange to refrain from expressing political views at work. Now, the executive seems to be open to involvement with Republican figures, including members of US President Donald Trump’s inner circle.

In a May 13 X post, Armstrong said members of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team, spearheaded by Elon Musk, though not set up as an actual department, would be welcome to implement cost-cutting changes at Coinbase after leaving the US government.

Armstrong offered to set up an accelerated onboarding process with the exchange, responding to an interview in which at least one DOGE staffer felt ostracized from Harvard University, where he had been enrolled.

“If you are looking for your next mission after serving your country, consider helping create a more efficient financial system for the world at Coinbase,” Armstrong said.

Since assuming a government position at the White House in January, Musk and the DOGE team have faced criticism from both sides of the aisle over their cuts, which often forced out or fired experienced employees without proper notice.

Lawsuits halting DOGE’s efforts or challenging dismissals are pending in federal court from parties alleging illegal or unconstitutional actions.

Coinbase once called itself a ‘mission-focused company’

Armstrong’s remarks, suggesting approval of DOGE’s actions, represented a sharp departure from the CEO’s position before Trump’s second term. At the time, many of the companies and executives in California’s Silicon Valley seemed to be more publicly aligned with Democrats.

In 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of George Floyd at the hands of police officers in Minneapolis spurred nationwide outrage and protests, prompting many companies to take a public position. Armstrong issued a notice at the time saying that Coinbase was a “mission-focused company” that didn’t “advocate for any particular causes or candidates.”

In response to Armstrong not publicly supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, many Coinbase employees organized a walkout. The CEO responded by claiming the crypto exchange had an “apolitical culture” and that roughly 5% of Coinbase staff who “didn’t feel they could be on board with this direction” had accepted an exit package.

Less than a month later, Armstrong retweeted a post suggesting he could support Kanye West for US President in 2020. After that time, the CEO made few public statements related to politics and US laws, though he did push for clarification on crypto tax rules in 2021.

Stand with Crypto moves Coinbase closer to political advocacy

It’s not entirely clear how Armstrong, at least in public, moved to be more aligned with political figures. However, for Coinbase, which the CEO said was intended to be “apolitical,” the change seemed to have started around the time the company received a Wells notice from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in March 2023, suggesting a potential enforcement action.

Armstrong, like many in the crypto industry, had often criticized the SEC before 2023 for not offering regulatory guidelines to follow, but the Wells notice and subsequent lawsuit seemed to move Coinbase from participating in a national political discussion on digital assets to outright advocacy. The company announced the launch of the Stand with Crypto Alliance in August 2023, a group “focused on mobilizing the crypto community to directly engage in the legislative process.”

Before Stand with Crypto, Armstrong used his platform to call on crypto supporters to contact their elected officials about digital asset bills moving through Congress. Even with this initiative tied to the exchange and CEO, the focus wasn’t on partisan politics, but “common-sense legislation to protect consumers and their right to crypto.”

“Being anti-crypto is a really bad political strategy going into 2024,” said Armstrong in a December 2023 X post, in response to legislation aimed at fighting money laundering with digital assets.

Enter Trump and the 2024 election cycle

In contrast to the 2020 election and even the 2022 midterms, the 2024 cycle stood out in more ways than one. For the first time, a presidential candidate was openly advocating for policies favoring cryptocurrency. The amount of money flowing from companies in the industry, including Coinbase, into federal elections also reached a record high.

Stand with Crypto, as an advocacy organization, was no exception. The group launched its own political action committee (PAC) in May 2024, allowing it to influence the elections through media buys and direct contributions. Though Stand with Crypto still organized like-minded voters, its efforts included a renewed focus on money.

It stood alongside the Fairshake PAC, a committee backed by roughly $45 million from Coinbase and $45 million from Ripple, which spent more than $130 million in the 2024 election cycle. Armstrong personally contributed $