- CEO Brian Armstrong denies reports White House officials are angry with Coinbase.
- Exchange pulled its support for Clarity last week.
- Industry and banks divided over the question of whether stablecoins should pay yields.
There’s been no split between Coinbase and the White House over new landmark crypto legislation, says the exchange’s Chief Executive Brian Armstrong.
Armstrong took to X to dismiss reports that the government is on the verge of abandoning its support for the bill, insisting White House officials have been “super constructive” in talks.
“They did ask us to see if we can go figure out a deal with the banks, which we’re currently working on,” Armstrong wrote. “Actually, we’ve been cooking up some good ideas on how we can help the community banks specifically in this bill, since that’s what this is about.”
The comments come at the end of a rough week for proponents of the bill, which proposes a qualified shift of regulatory control and bans on passive yields from stablecoin holdings.
Coinbase pulled support for the bill the day before the Senate was due to debate the draft law. And experts told DL News that market players are set to “expand their wish lists” for changes to the bill, a move that will “just create more friction.”
Deep divisions
Armstrong was speaking in response to allegations that the White House was “furious” with Coinbase’s “unilateral” decision to withdraw support for the Clarity Bill. The Coinbase chief said rift claims were “not accurate.”
“The White House is considering pulling its support for the crypto market structure bill entirely if Coinbase does not come back to the table with a yield agreement that satisfies the banks and gets everyone to a deal,” the crypto podcaster Eleanor Terrett wrote on X.
Quoting an unnamed “source close to the Trump administration,” Terrett said the White House “was not notified” of Coinbase’s decision in advance, “calling it a rug pull against the White House and the rest of the industry.”
“The White House does not believe that one company speaks for the entire industry, the source continued,” she wrote.
“This is President Trump’s bill at the end of the day, not Brian Armstrong’s,” the source reportedly said.
Stablecoin controversy
The bill’s lukewarm reception is indicative of deep divisions in the US crypto industry. Some have welcomed attempts to establish firm regulatory guidelines.
But others claim it amounts to a capitulation to the world of traditional finance, particularly on the stablecoin yields question.
“We can’t really have banks come in and try to kill their competition at the expense of the American consumer,” Armstrong told CNBC. “People should be able to earn more money on their money.”
Banks say stablecoin yields could dent their own ability to provide loans to businesses and homebuyers.
However, many crypto industry figures say banks are engaging in fear-mongering to keep the crypto sector at bay.
Stablecoins are digital tokens, issued on blockchain networks, that are tied to the value of a currency such as the US dollar.
Tim Alper is a News Correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at tdalper@dlnews.com.
