Senate Banking panel pauses markup after Coinbase pulls support for CLARITY Act A planned Senate Banking Committee markup of the CLARITY Act has been postponed after Coinbase withdrew its backing, creating fresh uncertainty around the bipartisan crypto reform effort. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly called the draft “bad” for the industry, saying it contains “too many issues” — notably provisions that would ban tokenized equities, curb stablecoin rewards, and broadly restrict DeFi in ways that could undermine privacy. “This version would be materially worse than the current status quo. We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill,” Armstrong said, adding that crypto must be treated on a “level playing field with the rest of financial services.” Coinbase’s pullback reportedly scuttled a markup scheduled for January 15. In response, Senate Banking Committee Chair Tim Scott (R-SC) postponed the session to allow more bipartisan negotiations, saying he’s “spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith.” The committee has not announced a new date; it’s unclear whether it will align with the Senate Agriculture Committee, which pushed its own markup into the final week of January. Complicating the picture, Senator Elizabeth Warren filed 35 amendments to the bill — including proposals for tighter DeFi oversight and a ban on tokenized stocks. Galaxy Research head Alex Thorn said the package of amendments has been broadly interpreted as a win for banks, which successfully advocated for limits on stablecoin rewards. Crypto proponents argue the last-minute changes have diluted the bill’s original priorities. Market sentiment shifted sharply as momentum stalled. Prediction market Polymarket placed the chances of the bill becoming law at about 52% at the time of writing, down from nearly 80% just two days earlier — a sign of growing uncertainty, particularly if negotiations extend into the U.S. election cycle. Bottom line: bipartisan talks continue, but major industry players withdrawing support and a flurry of amendments have left the CLARITY Act’s future uncertain. Lawmakers and stakeholders remain in talks, and negotiations over core issues such as tokenized securities, stablecoin rules, and DeFi oversight will determine whether a compromise can be reached. Disclaimer: This article is informational and not investment advice. Trading cryptocurrencies is high risk; readers should do their own research before making decisions. © 2026 AMBCrypto Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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