Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said Wednesday evening that Coinbase cannot support the Senate crypto market structure draft. He posted the message on X, as stated, saying the bill has too many flaws to pass.
Armstrong listed four main problems with the draft. He wrote that the bill includes “A defacto ban on tokenized equities.”
He said the bill’s DeFi prohibitions would give government broad access to financial records and remove privacy rights. He also argued the bill would erode most of the CFTC’s authority and make it subservient to the SEC, stifling innovation.
Armstrong warned that draft amendments would eliminate rewards on stablecoins and let banks restrict competition. He added, “We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill. Hopefully we can all get to a better draft.”
The Senate Banking Committee plans a hearing Thursday morning and intends to vote to advance the bill. Lawmakers have proposed more than 75 amendments (Ed. note: many amendments are often defeated or withdrawn before final passage).
Armstrong said he remains “quite optimistic that we will get to the right outcome.”
