A long-stalled crypto market bill is moving through Congress with renewed vigor — and Coinbase’s CEO says it could overhaul America’s financial system.
The CEO of Coinbase Brian Armstrong announced that his company supports the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on Wednesday, calling the law a “real contradiction” that pits the interests of the crypto industry against the interests of the banking culture and indicating that the currency is in the best condition that he has seen since the negotiations began.
The words, via Fox Newscame as the Senate Banking Committee preparing to keep his mark of the CLARITY Act on May 14, the first committee vote on the legislation in the Senate after months of procedural delays and double-digit obstruction.
Committee Chairman Tim Scott has set a target of June or July 2026 for a full Senate vote, while the White House has listed July 4 as its target for the president’s signature.
A legal marathon is underway
The CLARITY Act – HR 3633, Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 – cleared the House of Representatives on July 17, 2025, in a vote of 294-134, with all 216 Republicans supporting it and 78 Democrats across the board.
Since then, the bill has been sitting in the Senate Banking Committee through two impugned letters, More about stablecoinsand the escalation of the bidding war between crypto companies and Wall Street banks.
At its core, these rules establish rules between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Under the bill, the CFTC would have sole jurisdiction over digital currency markets while the SEC would retain jurisdiction over financial and securities markets. Stablecoins are created as a separate entity under shared management.
The Senate version of the bill expanded beyond the House version, growth to the nine positions that cover financial security, non-financial regulations, bankruptcy protection for crypto customers, and the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which creates safe harbors for developers who publish code without controlling customer funds.
Stablecoin price changes
The lowest price of stablecoin shares. Banks warned that allowing crypto platforms to make payments on stablecoin banks could lead to an exodus from traditional bank accounts and threaten lending. Crypto companies, led by Coinbase, said the restrictions would give banks a competitive advantage and deprive Americans of new financial tools.
Standing up made Co-sponsored by Senators Thom Tillis (R-NC) and Angela Alsobrooks (D-MD). Under the final language in Section 404 of the bill, stablecoin issuers and their affiliates who provide digital services cannot charge arrears if the yield is functionally or economically equivalent to bank interest.
Activity-based rewards – cash back on payments, marketing incentives, and marketing-related rewards – are allowed. A stablecoin holder that does not take action does not return.
Armstrong confirmed his support after the joint statement was made public, and Coinbase’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, declared that the company “protected what is important.”
Speaking on Fox, Armstrong praised Senators Tillis, Alsobrooks, and their staff for bringing both sides to the table. “I have to give a lot of credit to Senators Brooks and Tillis and their staff who worked so hard on this,” he said.
Armstrong described the financial sector as rapidly moving to include the digital economy.
“I go around and talk to a lot of bank CEOs, and a lot of them are looking at this as an opportunity to grow their business,” he said. “They are integrating stablecoins as fast as they can.”
More than 100 crypto companies and industry groups, including the Crypto Council for Innovation and the Blockchain Association, he wrote to the Senate Banking Committee in April to urge the group to advance the bill, warning that it would continue to cause delays that would drive talent and investment out of the United States.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent supported the call, telling the Senate panel that legislation is necessary to protect the dollar’s reputation as the world’s reserve currency.
Thursday’s show is not the finish line. If the Banking Committee approves the bill, it must combine with the version proposed by the Senate Agriculture Committee in a 12-11 party-line vote in January 2026.
A full Senate vote requires 60 votes, making Democratic support a key factor and leaving the ongoing battle over moral principles — especially the language of President Trump and his family’s crypto holdings — as the bill’s biggest flaw.
