The Senate Banking Committee has pulled the scheduled Thursday markup of its crypto asset market structure bill after a late-stage flare-up with Coinbase, freezing what had looked like a tightening path toward action. The pause lands at a sensitive moment for Washington’s crypto negotiations: industry heavyweights are publicly splitting over the Senate draft even as lawmakers insist bipartisan talks are still alive.
Scott positioned the bill as a foundational framework rather than a narrow industry carveout. “The goal is to deliver clear rules of the road that protect consumers, strengthen our national security, and ensure the future of finance is built in the United States,” he added.
Coinbase Breaks Ranks LateThe immediate catalyst was Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who said the exchange “can’t support the bill as written” after reviewing “the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs.”
He also pointed to “draft amendments” he said “would kill rewards on stablecoins,” warning the changes could allow banks to “ban their competition.” Armstrong’s bottom line was blunt: “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.” Still, he struck a conciliatory note about process and odds of a compromise, adding he was “quite optimistic” that continued work could produce “the right outcome.”
After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs, Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written.
There are too many issues, including:
– A defacto ban on tokenized equities – DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial…
That posture split the difference between hard opposition to the text and support for continued negotiations,an important distinction as the markup process is typically where senators offer and vote amendments.
Crypto Industry SplitMeanwhile, Tim Draper said Armstrong’s opposition is justified, arguing the Senate compromise “is worse than no bill at all” and suggesting that “the banks have been meddling.”
Galaxy Digitall’s CEO Mike Novogratz struck a more optimistic tone, saying: “While the crypto bill might be delayed to keep working on it, I am very confident that a bill will get done soon. I have spoken to over 10 senators on both sides of the aisle in the past 24 hrs and I believe they all are working in good faith to get something done. Always gets tense at the end.”
At press time, the total crypto market cap stood at $3.22 trillion.
