Were you in the space before Coinbase became big? Because I've had crypto exchanges get hacked and run away with my money. There was zero trust (for good reason) in any of the sites that let you buy crypto. Without Coinbase, this likely would still be a sketchy ecosystem that wasn't taken seriously. Coinbase was the first slick, trustworthy exchange based in the US. I personally am not very comfortable buying from foreign exchanges, and when I have to I move them out of those exchanges as fast as possible.
I think Coinbase was absolutely crucial in changing the public opinion of "buying bitcoin is for criminals" and "you just get hacked and lose it all".
I was. Most Bitcoin OGs have a lot of animosity towards Coinbase. Some of it is the "eternal September"[0] effect that Coinbase had bringing a lot of new people who didn't embrace Bitcoin's values and just wanted to gamble on crypto.
But some of it is based on Coinbase's actions against Bitcoin over the years. They've promoted and helped pump up a lot of s*t coins, including forks of Bitcoin. And they've done little to support or further the values Bitcoin was built on or core development.
Unfortunately, there just weren’t other options at the time. And you don’t find out that you can’t withdraw until you tried and failed for a few days straight.
I think Coinbase was absolutely crucial in changing the public opinion of "buying bitcoin is for criminals" and "you just get hacked and lose it all".