Coinbase Vice Chairman Ryan VanGrack said Clarity Act has gained “a lot of power” in the Senate, on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” appearance which created a federal crypto framework case involving bitcoin, blockchain, and the company’s relationship with Wall Street.
VanGrack, a former SEC director, framed the Clarity Act as a delay rule rather than a grant. “It’s not that there are no rules,” he said. “This is about implementing regulations on the industry for the first time.” He described the “win-win-win” for American investors, inventors, and standards when it passes, and said that the bipartisan group of senators has been working “even in the last few weeks and days.”
Clarity Act Amendments
The House passed its own version of the Clarity Act last year, and attention has shifted to the Senate, where the path to 60 votes remains a major challenge.
Senate Banking Committee raised the bill on a 15-9 vote this spring, two Democrats have crossed, and members of the House have urged the Senate to act before the August break. The measurement is in a a small window as the negotiators are preparing the rest.
President Trump added to his rhetoric last week, posting on Truth Social in support of Senator Lindsey Graham and calling on the Senate to pass the bill. Trump planned to oppose China, a message he repeated as himself they press the room to move.
VanGrack said Democrats will win legislation that strengthens consumer protections.
He also mentioned the illegal financial system, the “FTX loophole” that the statement has closed, the protection of insider trading, and increased disclosure.
“All around, Democrats have gotten approval to make what used to be consumer protections much stronger,” he said.
He added that the currency will not change the way crypto is defined as a commodity or a security in the fundamental sense, and it will maintain registration, research, and evaluation from the House of Representatives.
Asked how the industry is dealing with skeptics like JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon, VanGrack pointed to the number of banks and corporations.
“Not a week goes by,” he said, when the company fails to announce a new crypto service or currency. He predicted an “unstoppable convergence,” where the market stops separating traditional currencies from crypto and treats each as a modern financial institution.
That connection has been public, and controversial. JPMorgan and Coinbase announced the agreement to expand crypto opportunities, and the bank has moved accept bitcoin as collateral for a loan and to let customers sell.
Dimon, for his part, said declared war on the Clarity Act and insulted Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, a reminder that détente carries tensions.
Is bitcoin real?
The interview turned to a sharp question from CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin: whether blockchain is real but bitcoin is not. VanGrack called it a “fair question” and said the benefits of the technology are self-sustaining – faster deployment, better transparency, and around-the-clock sales.
He also said that no one who can create an economic system today can recreate the tools of the last century. He cited Citadel Securities, which he said made another big investment in the crypto economy last week, as a sign that major institutions are moving in the same direction.
Sorkin pressed the edge of the design: the technology aims to eliminate a friend that the customer can call when something goes wrong. VanGrack accepted the idea as a good one, but then argued against the current cost – the days to combine trade and peer risk that the delay brings.
“I’m not here to tell you that the technology is wrong,” he said. He acknowledged open questions, including whether crypto accounts should carry interest or loyalty rewards, a debate that banks have sparked and that the law will remain “an ambiguous tool.”
He closed the case under the Clarity Act clause. “Without clarity, you have no direction with the federal system,” he said. “So whether you love crypto or hate crypto, you should want the Clarity Act.”
