Coinbase CEO says company cannot support Senate crypto market structure bill in its current form

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange cannot support the Senate Banking Committee’s draft crypto market structure bill after reviewing the text over the past 48 hours. In a post on X, Armstrong outlined several major concerns, arguing that the legislation, as written, would be worse than the current regulatory status quo.

According to Armstrong, the draft effectively imposes a ban on tokenized equities, introduces prohibitions on decentralized finance that would grant the government broad access to users’ financial records and undermine privacy, and erodes the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in favor of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He also warned that proposed amendments could eliminate rewards on stablecoins and allow banks to suppress competition.

While acknowledging the bipartisan effort behind the bill, Armstrong said Coinbase would “rather have no bill than a bad bill,” adding that the company will continue to push for a revised framework that treats crypto on a level playing field with traditional financial services and supports innovation, economic freedom, and regulatory clarity in the U.S.