Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong believes the U.S. crypto industry will gain greater regulatory certainty regardless of whether the Senate approves the CLARITY Act on Sept. 15.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Armstrong said passing the legislation would give the industry a formal legal framework, but a failed vote would not necessarily represent a setback. He pointed out that the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have indicated they are prepared to begin rulemaking, meaning the industry could still see clearer regulations on the day of the vote or shortly afterward.
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act seeks to resolve years of uncertainty surrounding federal oversight of digital assets. Among its key provisions is a clearer division of responsibilities between the SEC and CFTC, with securities-related tokens generally falling under SEC jurisdiction and decentralized commodities such as Bitcoin coming under the CFTC.
The legislation would also establish federal rules for crypto exchanges, brokers and stablecoins. Greater certainty around those rules is widely viewed within the industry as a potential catalyst for increased institutional participation in digital assets.
Bipartisan support builds ahead of vote
Armstrong said the legislation has attracted considerable bipartisan support following extensive negotiations and hundreds of pages of feedback from lawmakers and other stakeholders.
According to the Coinbase chief, law enforcement organizations, banks and crypto businesses are among those backing the bill. He also said the major issues Coinbase previously considered essential have now been resolved.
However, negotiations continue over ethics provisions covering elected officials who own digital assets.
Armstrong said the details of those provisions have yet to be finalized. He noted that the White House has proposed what he described as strong ethics requirements, while Democrats are seeking additional measures, including potential divestiture requirements.
Despite the remaining disagreement, Armstrong said the two sides appear to be nearing a compromise.
Coinbase CEO challenges banking criticism
Armstrong also responded to criticism from JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon over the bill’s stablecoin provisions. Dimon has argued that the legislation could allow Coinbase to engage in regulatory arbitrage and gain an advantage over banks.
Armstrong did not mention Dimon by name but suggested that financial institutions with large payments operations may have a competitive interest in opposing provisions that benefit crypto firms.
He pointed to Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and Fidelity as examples of major financial companies that support the legislation.
Agentic finance could become a major market
Armstrong also highlighted agentic finance as another potentially large opportunity for the crypto industry.
Although the sector remains in its early stages, he described it as a major future total addressable market. He said Coinbase-developed infrastructure already processes most of the agentic payments taking place today.
Armstrong said more than 90% of roughly 165 million agentic payments recorded so far have occurred on Base, the blockchain developed by Coinbase, through the x402 protocol and USDC.
Based on that activity, he argued that Coinbase currently holds a leading position in the developing agentic finance market.
Armstrong also maintained his long-term bullish outlook for Bitcoin. He told CNBC that $400,000 by 2030 is “a reasonable target” and reiterated his belief that Bitcoin’s bottom has already been reached during the current market cycle.
