Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has dismissed reports suggesting that the White House is considering withdrawing support for the Clarity Act, which aims to regulate the structure of the U.S. cryptocurrency market.
In general, love your posts, but this is not accurate. The White House has been super constructive here.
— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 17, 2026
They did ask us to see if we can go figure out a deal with the banks, which we're currently working on.
Actually, we've been cooking up some good ideas on how we can help… https://t.co/t1bK48oRc0
“[The Trump administration] has shown exceptional constructiveness here. They asked us to try to negotiate with the banks, which we are currently working on,” he added.
On January 15, the U.S. Senate Banking Committee postponed its review of the Clarity Act. Coinbase did not support the latest version of the bill due to "too many issues," including restrictions on transactions involving tokenized stocks and rewards paid to stablecoin holders by exchanges.
Later, journalist Eleanor Terrett reported a conflict between Coinbase and the U.S. administration. According to her, the White House threatened to withdraw its support for the cryptocurrency market structure bill if the company did not resume negotiations.
Terrett's sources claim that administration officials were "furious" over the exchange's actions, which they were not informed about in advance, calling the situation a "setup."
In a recent post, Armstrong reiterated the goal of the Clarity Act—to "help local banks." The Coinbase CEO promised to share updates soon.
The White House's chief cryptocurrency advisor, David Sacks, urged the industry to use the delay to "resolve any remaining disagreements." He added that "the passage of market structure legislation is closer to completion than ever."
Notably, JPMorgan analysts identified the bill as one of the key drivers of the crypto industry in 2026.