Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong reversed his January position and publicly urged Congress to pass the CLARITY Act after months of delays. In a post on X, Armstrong said he agreed with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s Wall Street Journal op‑ed pressing lawmakers to act, described the bill as “a strong bill,” and wrote, “It’s time to pass the Clarity Act.”
Armstrong had withdrawn Coinbase’s support for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in January, prompting the Senate Banking Committee to postpone a planned markup. At that time he said the company could not back the bill “as written,” while also predicting it would pass shortly. Subsequent negotiations have addressed ethics rules, tokenized equities, stablecoin yield and other key crypto issues, slowing progress.
The Senate Banking Committee had not scheduled a new markup as of Friday. The bill requires both the Banking and Agriculture committees to resolve competing securities and commodities jurisdiction questions before the full Senate can vote; the Agriculture Committee approved its portion in January. Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, said last week that lawmakers were “very close to a deal.”
Engagement between crypto executives and administration and congressional officials has drawn scrutiny over industry influence in Washington. Coinbase and Ripple Labs executives have taken part in talks over the CLARITY Act, and Armstrong reportedly met with President Donald Trump before the president publicly urged prompt action on crypto market structure.
Those discussions coincide with regulatory moves that could benefit crypto firms. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has conditionally approved Coinbase’s national trust bank charter application, following December approvals for Paxos, Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle and Fidelity Digital Assets.
This article was produced in line with the publisher’s editorial standards; readers are encouraged to independently verify the information.
