Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has shared his perspective on the future of a cryptocurrency market structure bill currently under consideration in the US Senate. This comes less than 24 hours after he stated that the exchange could not support the current version of the legislation.
In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, conducted within the US Capitol building, Armstrong spoke following a post he made on X on Wednesday. In that post, he indicated that Coinbase was withdrawing its support for the CLARITY Act, a bill designed to establish a framework for digital asset markets. Members of the US Senate Banking Committee had been scheduled for a markup of the bill on Thursday, but this session was postponed subsequent to Armstrong's announcement.
The Coinbase CEO explained the rationale behind their concern: “We developed this concern that if [the bill] went into a markup, the only way to edit some of that base text would have been through an amendment, and amendments had already been submitted. And so we didn’t think it was prudent to come out of committee with a bunch of these issues in the bill which would have been catastrophic for the average American consumer.”
Armstrong further elaborated on the potential path forward:
“I think we’ve got a chance to do a new draft, and hopefully get into a markup in a few weeks.”
Republican lawmakers, who currently hold control of both the US House of Representatives and the Senate, had initially anticipated that the CLARITY Act would be enacted into law by 2026.
However, a significant number of industry leaders, banks, and experts have voiced concerns regarding specific provisions within the bill. These concerns encompass areas such as decentralized finance, the treatment of interest on payment stablecoins, and the proposed division of regulatory authority between the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
Cody Carbone, CEO of the crypto advocacy organization The Digital Chamber, commented on the advancement of the CLARITY Act, stating to Cointelegraph: “Inaction is unacceptable. We cannot afford to walk away from the table at a moment when clarity is within reach. Market structure must move forward, and the only path to longstanding policy is getting back to the negotiating table and finishing the job.”
Senator Tim Scott, who presides over the Banking Committee, described the postponement of the markup on Wednesday as a "brief pause." He also indicated that "good faith" bipartisan discussions were ongoing. Given that members of the Senate are slated for a state work period next week, any potential markup is likely to be deferred until at least the end of January.
Impact on Other Committees
The Senate Agriculture Committee, which is also involved in reviewing a version of the market structure bill, announced earlier this week its intention to release draft legislation on January 21. A markup hearing for this draft was scheduled for January 27. As of the time of this report, Committee Chair John Boozman had not announced any modifications to this established timeline.