CLARITY bill vote may not determine the direction of U.S. crypto regulation: Coinbase CEO

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong: Regardless of whether the CLARITY Act is passed, the U.S. crypto industry will have clear federal regulatory rules.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said that whether the CLARITY Act (Digital Asset Market Clarity Act) is passed in the key Senate procedural vote on September 15, the U.S. crypto industry is likely to usher in a clearer federal regulatory framework. Armstrong pointed out that if the legislative process stalls, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are ready to issue their respective crypto regulatory rules.

Regulatory outlook: Legislative failure is not hopeless

According to CNBC, Armstrong expects that both Congress and federal regulators will provide clearer guidelines for the industry after the September 15 vote. He argued that the SEC and CFTC have made clear they are prepared to move forward with their own rulemaking efforts if lawmakers fail to move legislation forward.

"If the bill passes, that's great, we have a legislative basis." Armstrong said,"Frankly, even if the bill fails, the results will be positive because the SEC and CFTC have said they are ready to issue rules. In any case, we will either gain regulatory clarity on the 15th or within two or three days."

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act aims to establish a federal market structure for digital assets and divide regulatory powers between the SEC and the CFTC. Tokens considered securities will continue to be regulated by the SEC, while decentralized digital goods such as Bitcoin will fall under the jurisdiction of the CFTC. Under the framework of the proposal, cryptocurrency exchanges, brokers and other market participants will face federal compliance requirements, and provisions on stablecoins and other digital asset market components have become the core of negotiations.

Senate test facing CLARITY bill

The September 15 action was a procedural cloture vote that required the support of 60 senators to move the legislation to the next stage, rather than a final vote.

Armstrong said the negotiations had produced a bipartisan compromise and described support for the bill as spanning cryptocurrency companies, banks and law enforcement groups. He noted that Coinbase's previous major concerns about earlier versions of the proposal had been addressed. "There was a lot of bipartisan compromises and hundreds of pages of opinions were submitted," Armstrong added,"The issues Coinbase previously raised as 'must-solve' have now been resolved."

However, the vote still faces political obstacles. Republicans need the support of Democrats or independents to reach the 60-vote threshold. Due to the shortened session of Congress, lawmakers have limited time to complete further actions before the election, putting more pressure on the legislative process.

Still, Armstrong expects supervision will continue even if the bill is stalled. SEC Chairman Paul Atkins has said the agency is preparing separate encryption rules that could operate with or without legislative support.

Code of ethics still under negotiation

Rules governing digital asset holdings by elected officials remain a focus of discussions. Asked whether the bill adequately addressed potential conflicts of interest, Armstrong said: "Details are still being developed and negotiated."

According to Armstrong, the White House has proposed a plan that includes what he described as "very strong ethics clauses." Democrats seek stricter requirements, including mandatory divestments of assets. He said the two sides "seem very close to reaching a solution."

Ethics requirements have become one of the main points of contention before the vote, with other differences including stablecoin rewards and protections for decentralized finance (DeFi) developers.

Banking challenges and Coinbase's stance

Beyond the regulatory debate, some banks continue to challenge terms that affect stablecoins. Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has criticized Coinbase on this issue, arguing that the exchange is trying to gain regulatory advantages over traditional banks through the stablecoin rules in the bill.

Armstrong did not name Dimon in his response, but pointed to "competitive issues" for companies with large payment businesses and accused critics of "talking to themselves." He listed financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs, BNY Mellon and Fidelity that supported the legislation.

Agent Finance: Coinbase's next big market

In addition to the regulatory controversy, Armstrong also pointed out that payments initiated by autonomous software agents are an emerging business opportunity for Coinbase. He described Agent Finance as "still in its early stages" but called it a "huge potential market (TAM) that is coming."

Coinbase has been building its proxy payment infrastructure around Base Chains, USDC stablecoins, and the x402 payment protocol, which is designed to allow software to make payments over the network. Armstrong said: "More than 90% of the agent payments that have occurred so far-approximately 165 million-have occurred on Base, which is the blockchain we created, in conjunction with the x402 protocol we created and the USDC."

"I think it's fair to say that we are at the forefront of the field of intelligent finance."

Coinbase will spend most of 2026 expanding this infrastructure. In July, the company described Base, USDC and x402 as core components of its agent finance strategy, when transaction volume in Base payments exceeded $100 million. Its tools allow software agents to make payments, purchase services, and manage wallets based on rules set by users or developers.

The company has also applied the technology to commercial payments. In July, Coinbase Business began supporting USDC payments initiated by AI agents via x402, while also providing developers with tools to add payment standards to online services.

Armstrong reiterates 2030 Bitcoin price target of US$400,000

In an interview with CNBC, Armstrong reiterated his long-term bullish view on Bitcoin, saying reaching a price of US$400,000 by 2030 is still a "reasonable goal."

He is more optimistic about the current market cycle, saying that "in the most recent cycle of this round, the bottom of Bitcoin has been established." The comment continued his view in August, when he believed that with Bitcoin trading above $72,000, the next bull cycle could be starting. At the time, he listed the September 15 CLARITY bill vote as one of the major policy events facing markets.

Armstrong's long-term outlook for Bitcoin remains radical. He has argued that by 2030, billions of adopters could reach cryptocurrencies, while insisting that digital assets will be increasingly used in payments and financial services.

For now, his immediate focus is still on Washington, D.C., where the September 15 cloture vote will determine whether the CLARITY bill can enter Senate debate. If this hurdle is not overcome, Armstrong expects the SEC and CFTC to initiate rulemaking processes within days of the vote.