Coinbase has swung behind a significantly tougher version of landmark US crypto legislation, even as a fierce dispute over President Donald Trump’s digital-asset dealings threatens to derail a Senate vote before the August recess.
Consumer safeguards strengthened in secret talks
Ryan VanGrack, vice chair of Coinbase, said Senate Democrats had secured stronger consumer protections during closed‐door negotiations over the final text of the CLARITY Act, telling CNBC the changes had given the bill “more teeth”.
“At the end of the day, this is about customer protections,” VanGrack said.
“The status quo lacks this infrastructure, lacks these protections, and the Democrats used this opportunity, wisely, to make sure that customers were first and foremost in [this bill].”
He did not spell out the new provisions or confirm whether senators had resolved a separate clash over ethics rules that has become central to the bill’s fate.
The additional safeguards are intended to plug gaps in the current US regime for digital‐asset companies and their clients. VanGrack’s remarks mark a clear shift in tone for Coinbase, which criticised an earlier Senate draft at the start of the year.
In January, chief executive Brian Armstrong announced that Coinbase could not support the legislation in its then form, a stance that was widely seen in Washington as contributing to a delay in the Senate Banking Committee’s markup. Since then, senior figures at the exchange, including chief legal officer Paul Grewal, have publicly urged Congress to move forward with a revised bill.
Market odds fall as ethics dispute deepens
Despite the latest industry endorsement, betting markets have grown more sceptical about the CLARITY Act’s prospects. On Polymarket, traders now assign only a 31% chance that the measure will become law in 2026.
As previously reported by crypto.news, that decline has coincided with a standoff over ethics language addressing elected officials’ financial interests in digital assets – a dispute that centres on Trump’s own crypto‐linked activities.
Sources cited in that reporting said the White House had not approved the proposed ethics wording as of 20 July and had offered no clear guidance to Senate negotiators on what kind of limits it would accept. Without that direction, staffers warn that redrafting could take longer than Republicans’ timetable allows, putting a pre‐recess vote in jeopardy.
Lawmakers have yet to publish the final Senate text or schedule a floor vote.
Trump’s crypto holdings at heart of row
Democratic senators have tied their support to binding restrictions on office‐holders’ dealings in digital assets, highlighting Trump’s involvement in several crypto‐related ventures.
Their concerns focus on projects such as Official Trump (TRUMP), his memecoin World Liberty Financial and other digital‐asset investments associated with the president and his family.
In June, Trump disclosed $1.4 billion in earnings connected to World Liberty Financial and other digital‐asset holdings. Democrats have pointed to those figures while “pressing for ethics language” in the broader market‐structure package, according to accounts of the negotiations.
Republican senators met Trump on Thursday to discuss the bill, but the meeting did not yield any public White House position on the contested ethics clause. Senate Democrats held their own closed‐door session a day earlier to determine whether the emerging text could win their backing.
Trump has “urged the Senate” to pass the CLARITY Act and used the death of Senator Lindsey Graham to intensify that call. In a recent social‐media post, he appealed to senators to approve the bill “in honor of” the South Carolina Republican, whom he described as a strong supporter of the proposal.
Thune’s deadline under pressure
Senate Majority Leader John Thune wants the chamber to debate the measure before lawmakers leave Washington for the August break. However, he has acknowledged that Republicans have not yet secured a bipartisan deal, and the party lacks the votes to overcome the Senate’s procedural hurdles alone.
Because Democrats are insisting on robust ethics limits, the White House’s reluctance to embrace the proposed language has left negotiators “without an agreement” needed to move the bill forward. The impasse pits the administration’s desire for swift passage against demands from Democratic lawmakers for explicit rules covering officials with crypto‐related financial interests.
Until senators unveil the revised text and assemble a cross‐party coalition, Thune’s pre‐recess target remains in doubt – a view reflected in Polymarket’s low odds of eventual enactment.
Coinbase’s changing fortunes in Washington
Coinbase’s latest intervention gives the CLARITY Act a powerful endorsement from one of the largest US crypto exchanges and underlines how its relationship with regulators has shifted since Trump returned to office.
Under President Joe Biden, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Coinbase, alleging it was operating as an unregistered securities exchange, broker and clearing agency. After Trump took office, the SEC, led on an acting basis by Mark Uyeda, dropped the case. The agency’s withdrawal removed one of Coinbase’s most significant regulatory battles at a time when Congress is attempting to define a comprehensive oversight framework for digital‐asset markets.
For Senate deal‐makers, the central question now is whether the strengthened consumer protections championed by Democrats and backed by Coinbase can be paired with ethics rules that satisfy the party’s senators and secure White House approval. Until that balance is found, and a vote is formally scheduled, the future of US crypto legislation will remain uncertain.
