US Senator insists crypto bill has 'broad industry agreement'
When Coinbase pulled its support for the US Senate's crypto bill two weeks ago, CEO Brian Armstrong indicated in a post on X that there were "too many issues" with the draft of the legislation, but one of the biggest objections was that it outlawed stablecoin rewards, which he argued would allow "banks to ban their competition."
Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott subsequently delayed the much-anticipated voted on the landmark legislation, known as the CLARITY Act.
The GENIUS Act which was passed in June, became the first legislation regulating stablecoins in the US. The CLARITY Act, on the other hand, is aiming to create a regulatory framework around the country's broader crypto market infrastructure.
The delay by Scott points to how much influence Coinbase and Armstrong have in the crypto industry - and ultimately how important their support is to passing the legislation.
There is no indication that Armstrong sees the issues he raised as being resolved yet, but one of the Senate's most vocal crypto supporters appears to think that there is enough backing for the legislation to bring it up for a vote.
“Broad industry agreement is rare but we have it on the CLARITY Act,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming, said in a post on X last week. “Builders, investors, and innovators across the ecosystem agree this moves us forward.”
She added that with "a pro-crypto president ready to act, we can't wait. America's leadership depends on it."
Lummis, who is retiring from the Senate at the end of the year, also criticized the Biden administration's approach to crypto in a separate post, saying that it had "tried to kill the digital asset industry with its regulatory warfare."
"The CLARITY Act locks in protections anti-digital asset leaders like Elizabeth Warren can’t undo," she added. "Let’s get this done before it’s too late."
Armstrong points to "pretty serious issues" with bill
Meanwhile, Armstrong gave some further insight into Coinbase's decision to oppose the Senate bill in an interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin outside of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.
He noted that the concerns came after he and Coinbase's lawyers were sent a draft of the text a couple of days before the vote on the CLARITY Act was scheduled.
"We started to notice some pretty serious issues in the draft text that we had a concern with, and there didn't appear to be a plan to actually get that fixed coming out of a Senate banking committee markup," Armstrong said. "And so we actually felt like we had an obligation to defend our customer's rights and say we have some issues here."
Here's a quick summary of what happened last week with the CLARITY Act.
undefined Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 21, 2026
Now we're all working together to find a win-win scenario for everyone, especially the American people. pic.twitter.com/Wcry97B3qf
Because the GENIUS Act prohibits stablecoin issuers from offering interest on the assets, crypto companies are instead offering investors “rewards” on their stablecoin holdings.
Bank lobbyists have been pushing lawmakers to ban what they call a "loophole" that crypto companies are exploiting in the GENIUS Act's stablecoin law.
However, the crypto industry see the banking sector's opposition as being a way to stifle competition, with Coinbase arguing that if traditional financial institutions are allowed to offer credit card rewards, then crypto companies should be allowed to offer stablecoin rewards.
Lummis continued to push for a vote on Friday, warning that America will "cede our competitive edge to other nations" the longer it waits to pass the CLARITY Act.
"We have the most pro-digital asset president in U.S. history—the stars are aligned," she said. "Let’s get this landmark legislation across the finish line and secure America’s leadership in crypto."
Despite his opposition to the current draft of the crypto bill, Armstrong maintains that he is "actually quite optimistic that we will get to the right outcome with continued effort."