Coinbase CEO denies White House clash as CLARITY Act talks continue

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong denied reports that the White House is considering pulling support for the CLARITY Act and rejected rumors the administration is "furious" with Coinbase.

Armstrong said "the White House has been super constructive here" and that officials "did ask us to see if we can go figure out a deal with the banks, which we're currently working on." Independent journalist Eleanor Terrett had reported a clash between Coinbase and the administration of US President Donald Trump, saying the White House threatened to withdraw support for the market structure bill if Coinbase did not resume negotiations.

Coinbase withdrew its support for the CLARITY Act on Wednesday, citing concerns the legislation would gut decentralized finance, ban tokenized stock trading and prohibit sharing yield from stablecoins with customers. The US Senate Banking Committee postponed a scheduled markup of the bill until lawmakers and the crypto industry can negotiate more acceptable terms.

Armstrong called provisions in the stalled draft "catastrophic" for consumers and said he expects a new bill markup within a "few" weeks. The CLARITY Act has split the crypto industry, with debate centering on sharing stablecoin yield; critics say the bill favors banking interests and harms fintech innovation.

Key Topics

Crypto, Coinbase, Brian Armstrong, Clarity Act, White House, Stablecoin Yield