In a recent interview, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong confirmed that the Senate’s long-awaited version of the crypto market structure still has a chance of passing this year, despite recent setbacks.
Crypto Bill Sees ‘Strong’ Bipartisanship
Following Wednesday’s roundtable discussions between Crypto industry CEOs and lawmakers from both parties, Armstrong told CNBC believes the Responsible Financial Innovation Act (RFIA) can make significant progress in the coming weeks, with increasing bipartisan support.
“We had a great meeting today with Democrats in the Senate and on the Republican side. The good news is that there is strong bipartisan support and will to get this market structure legislation done. It’s important for America, and the 50 million Americans who use crypto want it done,” he affirmed.
The CEO believes that 90% of the disputes that delayed the Senate Banking Committee markup session are “already aligned and agreed upon,” with “a lot of great, cross-functional collaboration happening” to address the remaining issues.
Armstrong also revealed that during meetings with Senate Democrats, they discussed the controversial proposal to regulate the DeFi sector, which was leaked and seemingly stalled bipartisan talks on the legislation nearly two weeks ago.
As reported by Bitcoinist, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate are said to have been feuding behind the scenes over a leaked proposal to regulate DeFi platforms. The document suggested establishing a “clear” regulatory framework for DeFi platforms by “defining responsibility, clarifying oversight, and preventing the misuse of decentralized protocols for illicit financing, sanctions evasion, or circumvention of market barriers.”
The proposal was heavily criticized by Republican lawmakers and crypto industry leaders, including Armstrong, who argued that it would “set back innovation and prevent the US from becoming the crypto capital of the world.”
According to Coinbase’s CEO, Senate Democrats “informed us that it was not a serious proposal.” He also noted that the incident highlighted the importance of preserving DeFi as a source of innovation, adding that they had a “productive conversation” about regulating centralized intermediaries, not the protocols.
Some online reports claimed that tensions between the two parties escalated during the October 22 meeting, resulting in a heated confrontation between a senator and the crypto executives over the leaked proposal and political alliances.
Approval of market structure law back on track?
About X, journalist Eleanor Terret confirmed that it is certain that all key players involved want the legislation to be achieved in a bipartisan manner. However, it remains unclear who will take the first step to resume bipartisan negotiations, when an upgrade date will be agreed upon and how the government shutdown will affect these talks.
Armstrong believes there is a “good chance” that the crypto market structure bill will “fail out of the Senate Banking Committee” before Thanksgiving, with drafts possibly released “in the next month or so.”
He also noted that the government shutdown “has not stopped the Senate and their staff from continuing to work” on the legislation. According to the CEO, lawmakers want the Market Structure Act to have a similar effect to the stablecoin framework, which “unleashed a wave of payment activity in the crypto space and provided an opportunity for the US dollar to really be exported around the world and all these dollar-denominated accounts.”
“My hope is still that it gets done this year. I think we have a good chance of doing it,” he confirmed. “If we get it out of committee before Thanksgiving, there’s a chance to get it done in December,” he continued. This timeline would allow the two chambers of Congress to come together and get crypto legislation to US President Donald Trump’s desk “hopefully shortly thereafter.”
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