Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong backed U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s call for Congress to move ahead with the CLARITY Act, adding support from one of the crypto industry’s most influential voices as lawmakers consider a federal framework for digital assets.
In a post on X, Armstrong said he agreed with Bessent and thanked him for saying publicly that it was time to pass the CLARITY Act. He also said he appreciated bipartisan work by senators and staff in recent months to improve the bill.
Armstrong’s comments came after Bessent said in a post on X that Congress had spent years trying to build a framework to keep the future of finance in the United States and urged the Senate Banking Committee to hold a markup and send the CLARITY Act to President Donald Trump’s desk.
Bessent said in an opinion piece published in the Wall Street Journal that the United States had long shaped financial markets through clear rules, credible enforcement, and an ability to adapt to innovation, but warned that leadership was not guaranteed. He said Congress should pass the CLARITY Act as digital assets become more widely adopted and more deeply integrated into the financial system.
Bessent said the global market value of digital assets had fluctuated between $2 trillion and $3 trillion over the past year, while nearly one in six Americans owned some form of digital asset. He also noted that major financial institutions had launched or sought approval for crypto-related products, and that blockchain infrastructure was playing a growing role in payments, settlements, and the exchange of real-world assets.
Earlier Resistance Eases
Armstrong’s support matters because Coinbase has played a major role in shaping crypto policy in Washington. His latest remarks suggest some industry concerns that had weighed on the bill earlier this year may have eased.
In January, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee postponed a planned markup of a crypto market structure bill after Armstrong said he could not support the draft at the time, raising uncertainty over the measure’s prospects.
The legislation would define when crypto tokens fall under securities, commodities, or other classifications, and would place spot crypto markets under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
After the delay, Committee Chairman Tim Scott said talks with industry executives and lawmakers would continue during the pause, adding that the bill reflected months of bipartisan negotiations and input from innovators, investors, and law enforcement.
