- The crypto community views Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s latest comments on the Clarity Act as a sign that banks and the digital asset sector representatives have already found a compromise on stablecoin yields—the most hotly debated provision of the bipartisan bill.
The positive feedback from Coinbase on the pending Clarity Act legislation has signaled optimism that the latest developments in negotiations between the banking and crypto sectors may have led to terms acceptable to the majority of the digital asset industry. The hottest issue in the bill that has prevented its markup on the Senate floor revolved around the debate over stablecoin yields.
Coinbase Backs Call for Urgency of Clarity Act
On Friday, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong thanked US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for calling for a sense of urgency in passing the Clarity Act. The White House official highlighted earlier in an op-ed on the WSJ that the crypto industry is no longer a “niche experiment, having grown into a $2 trillion to $3 trillion industry over the years.
Additionally, many institutions have already anchored their products and services with blockchain, the underlying technology of these digital assets, to enhance efficiency, settlement speeds, transparency, and security across transactions and other vital operations. Alongside these is the rapidly growing penetration of crypto in the retail sector.
Bessent underscored the inevitability of digital assets taking a greater share and influence in the financial ecosystem. Hence, to ensure that regulators, issuers, and consumers all fall in line with the digital revolution, Congress must pass the Clarity Act without further delay.
The Treasury secretary also recommended advancing the legislation to maintain the USA’s dominance in financial markets and to realize President Donald Trump’s vision of turning the nation into the “crypto capital of the world.”
Armstrong agreed with Bessent and expressed his gratitude to Senators and staff who supported the bipartisan effort. He believes it will be a “strong bill.”
Reading Between the Lines
Coinbase has yet to issue an official statement about the Clarity Act’s current language. However, members of the crypto community, including Crypto in America’s Eleanor Terrett, saw Armstrong’s post on X as a major endorsement of the bill’s present state.
For Terrett, Armstrong’s comment reflects where his company stands. She particularly considered it “a strong indicator that negotiations have concluded in a place they can live with.”
Many breathed a sigh of relief at the progress. However, amid praise for Armstrong came criticisms of Coinbase’s past actions, leading to delays in the markup of the bipartisan bill on the Senate floor.
Critics argued that, like banks, Coinbase is only looking out for its own interests, preventing it from previously cooperating to reach a compromise on stablecoin yields. The company reportedly earned 20% to $1.35 billion of its revenue in 2025 from stablecoin rewards.
The White House recently found that stablecoin yields only carry a minimal impact on bank deposits. The President’s Council of Economic Advisers (CEAs) completely obliterated the banking sector’s claim that allowing rewards on idle stablecoin holdings would result in up to $6.6 trillion in deposit flight.
