The Senate Banking Committee has reportedly removed the crypto market structure bill from its agenda.
- The development comes after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly opposed the latest draft, citing multiple regulatory concerns.
- It remains unclear whether a new date has been set.
- The Senate Agriculture Committee also delayed its portion of the legislation earlier this week to the final week of January.
The Senate Banking Committee has reportedly pulled the crypto market structure bill from its scheduled discussion on Thursday, following public opposition from Coinbase Chief Executive Officer Brian Armstrong, who said the exchange cannot support the current draft.
According to a report by Crypto America, it remains unclear whether a new date has been set. The delay follows a similar move earlier this week by the Senate Agriculture Committee, which oversees the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s (CFTC) side of the CLARITY bill, which postponed the markup to the final week of January.
The overall cryptocurrency market held steady on Wednesday night at a market capitalization of $3.3 trillion. Bitcoin (BTC) traded at around $96,200 – up 0.9% in the last 24 hours – after crossing $97,000 earlier in the day. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on Stocktwits remained in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, while chatter rose to ‘high’ from ‘normal’ levels.
Coinbase Opposition Derails Momentum
Armstrong said the latest version of the bill contains “too many issues” for Coinbase to support. In a post on X, he outlined several objections, including what he described as a de facto ban on tokenized equities, restrictions on decentralized finance that could grant the government broad access to financial records, and provisions that would weaken the authority of the CFTC in favor of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
“Draft amendments that would kill rewards on stablecoins, allowing banks to ban their competition,” he said, pointing to a key source of revenue for the crypto exchange.
COIN’s stock dipped more than 2% in after-hours trade and was among the top trending tickers of Stocktwits at the time of writing. Retail sentiment around the company remained in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day.
Not Everyone Is On The Same Page
While Coinbase pulled back its support, other notable voices in the crypto industry came out in support of the draft. Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said in a post on X that disagreement over specific provisions is part of the legislative process. “Reasonable people can disagree on specific provisions,” he wrote, adding that the final stage of negotiations remains critical.
Cody Carbone, CEO of the Digital Chamber, echoed that view, saying it is important for the industry to continue engaging with lawmakers to refine the bill until it reaches the President’s desk.
Analysts See Delay Favoring Banks
Analysts at TD Cowen said Armstrong’s withdrawal of support likely derails the market structure legislation in the current Congress, a development they described as “negative for crypto and positive for banks.”
In a research note to investors cited by TheFly, TD Cowen stated banks have a strong incentive to prevent crypto platforms from paying rewards on stablecoins held on their balance sheets. While passage of the bill could ultimately benefit banks, a delay still represents a win for traditional finance.
TD Cowen also noted that the crypto market structure bill would have been a natural legislative vehicle for additional financial reforms, including potential caps on credit card interest rates or regulation of interchange fees. If the bill does not advance, those policy additions are unlikely to move forward either.
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