Bitcoin advocate Marty Bent slammed Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) for steering users away from Bitcoin and toward "worthless tokens."
He compared the exchange with the "Tower of Babel," a biblical reference to a lack of clarity and truth.
On Oct. 9, he wrote on X (formerly Twitter), "Coinbase is the Tower of Babel. Confusing people by pushing them away from bitcoin and toward worthless tokens will be looked back on as one of the most dishonorable actions one could engage in during bitcoin's monetization phase."
Bent is the Managing Partner of the venture capital firm Ten31 that invests in Bitcoin-focused companies. He also hosts the "TFTC: A Bitcoin Podcast."
Coinbase's 'dishonorable action'
Coinbase recently enabled New Yorkers to participate in staking of altcoins like Solana and Ethereum through the platform.
Staking is the process of locking up cryptocurrency to help secure a proof-of-stake (PoS) blockchain network. Participants, also known as validators or stakers, then earn rewards for validating transactions and maintaining the network's integrity.
Coinbase is in hot water
This is not the first time Bent has spoken against Coinbase. In April, he criticized Coinbase for sending investors into a frenzy with its "Base is for everyone" token. Three wallets that discovered the token minutes before its official announcement reportedly profited more than $666,000 after the token's price surged and crashed within hours.
Although Base later clarified it had not issued or endorsed the token, the incident raised concerns over insider trading, opaque communication, and lack of oversight in Coinbase's broader ecosystem.
Bent called the incident an "in-house rug pull" that negatively impacted Coinbase's reputation and advised users to rely on Bitcoin-native exchanges.
Coinbase is also facing a bankruptcy-disclosure lawsuit for misleading investors about regulatory and financial risks. They argue that the exchange downplayed the risks related to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) enforcement actions. This week, a U.S. federal judge also rejected Coinbase's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Bitcoins vs altcoins
According to Kraken, Bitcoin's market cap has risen by 99.5%, reaching $2.4 trillion over the past year. During the same period, Ethereum's market cap increased by 82% to $522 billion, while Solana's grew by 58.4% to $120 billion.
This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Oct 10, 2025, where it first appeared in the Investing section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
