The Senate Banking Committee has postponed planned increases in the Digital Asset Market Transparency Act, capping what was expected to be a pivotal week for U.S. crypto policy with a culminating halt amid growing industry opposition and unresolved political disputes, according to reports. American cryptocurrency.
The decision comes after tensions escalated throughout the week, with crypto companies and industry groups expressing dissatisfaction with last-minute amendments to the 278-page market structure bill.
Critics argued that the changes further tilted the law in favor of banks and traditional finance, particularly by tightening restrictions on stablecoin rewards and tokenization.
Compounding the uncertainty, Democrats on the committee continued to push for stronger ethics rules that prohibit government officials, including the president, from personally profiting from crypto ventures. These provisions have repeatedly stalled in negotiations with the White House, contributing to the impasse.
The immediate trigger for the CLARITY Act delay occurred around 4 p.m. on January 14, when Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced that the exchange was withdrawing its support for the bill. Coinbase was one of the most influential industry supporters of the Comprehensive Market Structure Framework and invested heavily in lobbying on Capitol Hill.
“While I appreciate the hard work of the senators to reach a bipartisan conclusion, this bill would be significantly worse than it is now,” Armstrong said in a post on X. “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill.”
In a follow-up post, Armstrong said he remains optimistic that lawmakers can still reach an acceptable compromise and pledged that Coinbase will continue to engage with policymakers on the CLARITY Act.
The withdrawal was a major setback. The loss of support from one of the cryptocurrency industry’s most prominent policy voices risks signaling to undecided senators that the bill lacks sufficient industry consensus, raising the possibility that the committee will delay or abandon the markup altogether.
Although the price increase was ultimately postponed, Coinbase’s decision did not trigger a complete exit from the industry. Several major companies and advocacy groups have publicly reaffirmed their support for the markup push, including a16z, Circle, Paradigm, Kraken, Ripple, Coin Center, and Digital Chamber.
“It’s easy to walk away when the process gets difficult,” Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a post on X. “What’s hard, and what really matters, is continually showing up, working through disagreements, and building consensus in a system designed to demand it.”
In a brief statement announcing the postponement, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott, R-S.C., said “everyone is at the table working in good faith,” but did not give a new date for the rate hike or specify what issues would need to be resolved before it could be rescheduled.
The Senate is scheduled to adjourn next week for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and reconvene the following week.
The Senate Agriculture Committee, which shares jurisdiction over parts of the bill, particularly spot market oversight and the role of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, is expected to make its own markup on the CLARITY Act later this month after adjourning the previous session.
It remains unclear whether bank delays will impact the agricultural sector’s schedule.
What is the Clarity Method?
The CLARITY Act, which uses House-passed HR 3633 as its foundational document, aims to establish a comprehensive federal framework for digital asset markets.
The bill aims to split oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC, set standards for payment stablecoins, clarify rules for decentralized finance, and protect software developers who do not control customer funds.
Primarily Republican supporters say the bill would replace regulatory uncertainty with clear rules, strengthen fraud and illegal financial authorities, and bring crypto activity back home. The committee’s fact sheet states that this is the “strongest illicit finance framework ever considered by Congress” for digital assets.
But critics say the bill risks weakening investor protections and creating new loopholes.
Former SEC Chief Accountant Lynne Turner warned earlier this week that the draft CLARITY Act lacks Sarbanes-Oxley-level safeguards, such as required audited financial statements, internal control certification, and strong oversight by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a flaw that she said could lead to another FTX-style collapse.
Stablecoin rewards have emerged as one of the most contentious issues in the CLARITY Act. Banking groups argue that high-yielding stablecoins could siphon deposits from traditional banks, while crypto companies counter that a broad reward ban would stifle innovation and drive users to offshore platforms.
