Coinbase CEO's objection halts Senate vote on Clarity Act

A planned Senate committee vote on a major cryptocurrency bill was canceled after Brian Armstrong, chief executive of Coinbase, posted on X on Wednesday that the company could not support the measure as written.

The legislation, known as the Clarity Act, is a nearly 300-page bill designed to establish a regulatory framework for much of the crypto industry. According to the reporting, Mr. Armstrong objected to proposed language that he said threatened to outlaw one of Coinbase’s products and that the bill would assign too much authority to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The intervention came after years of Coinbase building influence in Washington. The publicly traded company, described in the reporting as worth nearly $70 billion, helped finance a network of PACs that spent more than $130 million to influence congressional races in 2024, and the industry gained political momentum after the S.E.C. dropped its cases against Coinbase soon after President Trump’s inauguration.

Senator Tim Scott, chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, said the markup was postponed to an unspecified date and that “Everyone remains at the table working in good faith.” Mr. Armstrong pulled support even as other crypto executives expressed backing for the bill; negotiations and the bill’s fate remain unresolved.

Key Topics

Tech, Coinbase, Clarity Act, Brian Armstrong, Sec, Tim Scott