Retail investors on Coinbase are aggressively purchasing Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH) during recent price declines, defying broader market panic and institutional outflows.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed on Sunday, February 15, 2026, that internal exchange data shows “strong resilience” among individual users who have used the market downturn to increase their holdings of the native unit.
Retail users on Coinbase have been very resilient during these market conditions, according to our data:
– They’ve been buying the dip – we’ve seen a native unit increase for retail users across BTC and ETH
– They have diamond hands – vast majority of customers had native unit…
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) February 15, 2026
Retail resilience outpaces institutional caution
The disclosure highlights a growing trend of “diamond hands” within the retail sector, as individual balances in February have remained equal to or higher than those recorded in December 2025.
Coinbase internal data suggests a resilient retail investor base, with Chief Financial Officer Alesia Haas confirming that the company has observed users buying the dip despite softer market conditions. This indicates a core commitment to the asset class among a segment of investors.
Although the company recorded a significant, nearly $700 million loss in the fourth quarter due to a major crypto crash, CEO Brian Armstrong maintains an optimistic outlook on Coinbase’s long-term future. He views the current market volatility as a cyclical “crypto winter,” which the company has successfully navigated before, rather than a sign of terminal industry decline.
Armstrong’s strategy is to shift Coinbase’s reliance away from retail trading fees towards a more durable and diversified business model. To counter the plummeting transaction volume that followed Bitcoin’s valuation drop, Coinbase is now prioritizing revenue streams from subscriptions and services. This includes staking rewards, stablecoin interest (via the USDC partnership with Circle), and custodial fees generated from institutional clients.
Strategic accumulation amid bearish sentiment
This accumulation occurs even as the Crypto Fear & Greed Index recently fell to a reading of 5, a record low signalling extreme market caution. This behaviour suggests retail participants are adopting a more disciplined, counter-cyclical approach to digital asset management.
This retail resilience coincides with Coinbase launching Agentic Wallets on the Base network, shifting AI from advisors to active economic participants and signalling a new machine-driven crypto economy.
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