- Brian Armstrong denies responsibility for the Senate’s rejection of the CLARITY Act, claiming the WSJ is preparing an article to pin the blame on him.
- Armstrong clarified that while Coinbase objected to the initial January draft, the exchange backed the updated version once lawmakers resolved its primary concerns.
Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong has pushed back against an impending Wall Street Journal report that he asserts aims to hold him and Coinbase directly accountable for the CLARITY Act stalling in the U.S. Senate.
“Here we go again!” Armstrong stated in a recent post on X. He alleged that the WSJ is “working on a story blaming Coinbase and me personally for the CLARITY Act not passing,” while criticizing the publication for maintaining a consistently adversarial stance toward the bill.
Furthermore, Armstrong defended the exchange’s initial opposition to the January iteration of the legislation, citing critical flaws regarding decentralised finance (DeFi), tokenization, Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) authority, and stablecoin rewards.
“At the time, the bill had major issues that would have harmed crypto,” Armstrong wrote. He also maintained that backing for the measure was fractured and that it was not positioned to pass.
According to Armstrong, Coinbase subsequently collaborated with lawmakers and other stakeholders to revise the proposal. He noted that all four specific points he raised in January were successfully resolved in the text that advanced to the Senate Banking Committee about four months later.
“The final draft of CLARITY that went to the Senate was great, and I strongly supported it,” Armstrong wrote.
What Led Coinbase to Oppose the Bill
The controversy centers around modifications made to the legislation following Coinbase’s initial resistance.
Back in January, Coinbase pulled its backing for the version slated for a Senate Banking Committee markup. The panel had intended to review the legislation on January 15, but postponed the session after Coinbase voiced its grievances.
Armstrong characterized that January draft as a “de facto ban on tokenized equities” and expressed worries regarding penalties directed at DeFi developers, CFTC spot-market jurisdiction, and limits on stablecoin rewards.
Subsequently, the bill underwent several months of discussions among senators, regulatory bodies, and industry representatives.
By early May, Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks came to a compromise concerning stablecoin rewards. The updated text banned rewards equivalent in economic function or purpose to bank-deposit interest while permitting specific incentives tied directly to authentic platform usage.
Armstrong responded to this agreement with a brief directive: “Mark it up.”
The modified bill cleared the Senate Banking Committee on May 14 via a 15-9 vote. Coinbase maintained its backing for the measure thereafter, which encompassed provisions addressing digital-asset definitions, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and CFTC jurisdiction, self-custody, consumer protection safeguards, and anti-money laundering mandates.
The legislation ultimately failed to pass the Senate on September 15. Lawmakers voted 49-50 against advancing the measure, falling short of the 60-vote threshold needed for the procedural motion. In the wake of the vote, Armstrong described the outcome as discouraging, adding that the SEC and CFTC could still formulate cryptocurrency regulations utilizing their current powers.
In a separate interview conducted recently, Armstrong remarked that the Senate utilized Coinbase’s earlier feedback to amend the text. He asserted that the four disputed issues were resolved in the final version and blamed alternative disagreements for the bill’s ultimate downfall.
Armstrong termed the result “a missed opportunity for the US to lead.”
His remarks bring attention back to the differences separating the January draft from the version that ultimately reached the Senate floor. Although Coinbase rejected the early draft, it endorsed the revised legislation once lawmakers altered the contested clauses.
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