Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong renewed support for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, supporting a recent call from US Treasury Secretary Scott Besent for Congress to move the bill forward.
Summary
- Brian Armstrong supported the Transparency Act after Coinbase opposed an earlier version of the bill in January.
- Action by the Senate Banking Committee is pending as lawmakers continue discussions on crypto market structure rules.
- Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged Congress to pass the bill as negotiations move forward.
The public statement reflects a change in Coinbase’s position in January, when Armstrong said the company could not support the measure in its previous form before a key Senate committee vote.
Armstrong said in a post to X that Coinbase now supports the latest version of the bill after months of discussions between lawmakers and industry groups. He also supported Bessent’s recent opinion piece for the Wall Street Journal, which called on Congress to act on crypto market structure legislation.
Armstrong wrote, “It is time to pass the Clarity Act.” His new statement came nearly three months after he said the exchange could not support the bill “as written,” a position that contributed to delays in action by the Senate Banking Committee.
The CLARITY Act still faces several steps before reaching a full Senate vote. The Senate Agriculture Committee approved its portion of the bill in January, but the Senate Banking Committee still has to deal with provisions related to securities and asset supervision.
As of Friday, no marketing was scheduled for the Banking Committee. The bill has been stalled for months as lawmakers argue over ethical issues, token allocations, stablecoin yields, and other digital asset issues.
In addition, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal said last week that lawmakers are “very close to an agreement” on the bill. Those comments added to signs that negotiations were still going on behind the scenes as the measure was not on the committee’s calendar.
Recent support from Armstrong suggests Coinbase believes the bill has advanced since January. His previous comments pointed to concerns about the wording of the draft, and the current version now appears to be supported by the exchange.
Crypto policy obligations remain entrenched
The bill’s progress has drawn attention to the role of the crypto industry in Washington. Coinbase and Ripple executives have both been involved in discussions with administration officials about crypto policy, and Armstrong reportedly met with President Donald Trump before Trump publicly called for action on the market structure rule.
Coinbase’s renewed support for the bill comes shortly after the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency approved the company’s application for a national trust bank charter. The approval followed similar decisions by Paxos, Ripple Labs, BitGo, Circle, and Fidelity Digital Assets in December.
