Coinbase CEO Denies WSJ Report on CLARITY Act Failure

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, has denied reports circulating on X that The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) is preparing an article blaming him and Coinbase for the failure of the U.S. cryptocurrency market structure bill known as the CLARITY Act. Armstrong explained that in January, his team opposed the initial draft of the bill due to issues related to DeFi, tokenization, CFTC authority, and stablecoin compensation provisions. Coinbase had publicly opposed the draft at the time, followed by negotiations over those specific clauses. Armstrong stated that all four concerns he raised were later addressed, and approximately four months after the initial opposition, an improved version of the bill passed through committee. The CLARITY Act stalled on Thursday after failing to secure 60 votes in a Senate procedural vote.