Coinbase Withdraws Support for Crypto Bill on Eve of Key Senate Vote
With less than 24 hours before a critical Senate vote on a major crypto market structure bill, Coinbase abruptly withdrew its support, citing serious concerns with the draft text. CEO Brian Armstrong stated the latest version would be “materially worse” than current regulations, highlighting issues such as a de facto ban on tokenized equities and broad government access to financial information. The move comes amid tensions between the crypto industry and the banking lobby, particularly over provisions that would ban yield on stablecoin holdings—a key source of revenue for crypto firms. While earlier versions of the bill aligned with previous laws allowing stablecoin yield, the new language favors banks and threatens such products. Coinbase’s last-minute reversal appears to be an effort to secure more favorable terms regarding stablecoin yields, with the company warning senators that its political action committee is monitoring their votes closely. Critics view Coinbase’s maneuver as either strategic or self-defeating, given the company’s intensive lobbying and campaign spending efforts.
