‘Too many issues’- Coinbase CEO withdraws support for CLARITY Act

ambcryptoPubblicato 2026-01-15Pubblicato ultima volta 2026-01-15

Introduzione

Coinbase has withdrawn its support for the CLARITY Act, a crypto market structure bill, leading the Senate Banking Committee to postpone its markup. CEO Brian Armstrong stated the current version has "too many issues" and is "bad for the sector," preferring no bill over a bad one. Key objections include bans on tokenized equities, stablecoin rewards, and privacy-limiting DeFi restrictions. In response, Chairman Tim Scott delayed the session to allow further bipartisan negotiations. The market's odds of the bill passing this year fell to 52%, down from 80%, reflecting increased uncertainty. Senator Elizabeth Warren also proposed 35 stricter amendments, seen as favorable to traditional banks.

Coinbase has withdrawn its support for the crypto market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, forcing the Senate Banking Committee to postpone the planned markup.

In a statement, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the draft, which was scheduled for markup, had “too many issues” and was “bad” for the sector.

He highlighted the ban on tokenized equities, stablecoin rewards, and the prohibition of DeFi that would limit privacy as key deal breakers.

“This version (draft) would be materially worse than the current status quo. We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill. Hopefully, we can all get to a better draft.”

He added that crypto needs to be treated on a “level playing field with the rest of financial services.”

Senate Banking Committee postpones markup

Coinbase’s move reportedly derailed the markup scheduled for the 15th of January. In response, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) postponed the session to allow bipartisan negotiations to continue.

Scott added,

“I’ve spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith.”

However, unlike the Senate Agriculture Committee, which also pushed its markup timeline to the last week of January, the Banking Committee didn’t share a new schedule as of press time.

Whether the Banking committee will align with the Agriculture’s schedule was unclear.

Meanwhile, Galaxy Head of Research Alex Thorn noted that Senator Elizabeth Warren filed 35 amendments to the crypto bill. These include stricter DeFi oversight and a proposed ban on tokenized stocks.

Taken together, the changes were largely viewed as a win for the banks, who had successfully pushed for limiting stablecoin rewards in the draft.

Market is 50/50 on the CLARITY Act

These last-minute amendments further diluted the bill, according to crypto supporters. And with the temporary pause on the bill momentum, the market was nearly 50/50 on the chance of it being passed into law this year.

At the time of writing, Polymarket showed a 52% chance of the bill becoming law.

That figure was down from nearly 80% just two days earlier. It reflects growing uncertainty, especially if unresolved issues spill into the U.S. election cycle.

Final Thoughts

The Senate Banking Committee has joined its Agriculture colleagues in postponing the markup of the crypto market structure bill.
Coinbase CEO said the industry would “rather have no bill than a bad bill.”

Domande pertinenti

QWhy did Coinbase withdraw its support for the CLARITY Act?

ACoinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated the draft had 'too many issues' and was 'bad' for the crypto sector, citing the ban on tokenized equities, stablecoin rewards, and the prohibition of DeFi that would limit privacy as key deal breakers.

QWhat was the immediate consequence of Coinbase's withdrawal of support?

AThe Senate Banking Committee postponed the planned markup session for the CLARITY Act that was scheduled for January 15th.

QAccording to the article, who is seen as the main beneficiary of the recent amendments to the bill?

AThe changes were largely viewed as a win for the banks, who had successfully pushed for limiting stablecoin rewards in the draft.

QWhat did Senator Elizabeth Warren propose in her amendments to the crypto bill?

ASenator Elizabeth Warren filed 35 amendments, which included stricter DeFi oversight and a proposed ban on tokenized stocks.

QWhat does the current market prediction (on Polymarket) indicate about the bill's chance of becoming law?

AAt the time of writing, Polymarket showed a 52% chance of the bill becoming law, down from nearly 80% just two days earlier, reflecting growing uncertainty.

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