The U.S. Senate Banking Committee has abruptly postponed today’s scheduled markup and vote on the long-awaited digital asset market structure legislation. The decision follows Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong’s public declaration that the company can no longer support the current draft of the bill.
Why the Senate Crypto Bill Vote Was Cancelled
The postponement came just hours after Coinbase — one of the cryptocurrency industry’s most prominent voices and a major political spender — withdrew its backing. Committee Chairman Tim Scott (R-SC) confirmed the delay, stating that “good-faith negotiations will continue” among bipartisan lawmakers, industry stakeholders, and traditional finance groups. No new vote date has been announced.
The proposed legislation, often referred to as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, seeks to create a clear regulatory framework by dividing oversight between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). It also addresses tokenized assets, decentralized finance (DeFi), stablecoins, and user protections.
Coinbase’s Key Concerns With the Current Crypto Bill Draft
In a detailed thread posted on X, Brian Armstrong explained why Coinbase believes the Senate version is “materially worse than the status quo.” The company’s primary objections include:
- •De facto ban on tokenized equities — potentially blocking blockchain-based stocks and securities innovation
- •Heavy restrictions on DeFi protocols, including rules that could seriously undermine user privacy through expanded government access to transaction data
- •Significant power shift from CFTC to SEC — moving more spot crypto market authority to the SEC, which many in the industry view as enforcement-first rather than innovation-friendly
- •Elimination or severe limitation of stablecoin rewards/yields — a move that would hand a competitive advantage to traditional banks by reducing one of the most popular consumer features in crypto
Armstrong’s blunt assessment: “This bill is worse than having no bill at all.”
Brian Armstrong’s Statement: "We’d Rather Have No Bill Than a Bad Bill"
The Coinbase CEO emphasized that while the company strongly supports the need for regulatory clarity, the current draft would stifle innovation, harm U.S. competitiveness, and tilt the playing field toward legacy financial institutions. “We appreciate the bipartisan effort in the Senate,” Armstrong wrote, “but crypto needs rules that put it on a level playing field — not ones that choke innovation and drive activity offshore.”
Impact on Crypto Industry
The delay highlights the intense lobbying battle surrounding stablecoin yields, DeFi oversight, and the SEC vs. CFTC jurisdictional divide. Traditional banks have pushed hard against features that could draw deposits away from conventional accounts, while crypto advocates argue that overly restrictive rules will push innovation — and jobs — to jurisdictions like Singapore, Dubai, and the EU. For now, the U.S. crypto sector remains in regulatory limbo, relying on enforcement actions and patchwork state-level rules rather than comprehensive federal legislation.