Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong is pushing the CLARITY Act as bipartisan legislation that protects consumers from another FTX-style collapse while limiting government overreach into crypto. The Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill on September 15, 2026, after it passed the House in July 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee earlier in 2026.
Brian Armstrong is betting on a Senate floor vote scheduled for September 15, 2026 to give US crypto rules a legal foundation. The Coinbase CEO argues the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act of 2025 would split oversight of exchanges and issuers between the SEC and CFTC, replacing the jurisdictional standoff that has defined US crypto policy for years.
Consumer protection is the core pitch
Armstrong frames the bill around two goals: shielding retail investors from a repeat of the FTX collapse and stopping regulators from overreaching into an industry he says is still finding its footing. According to Coinbase: Armstrong called the bill "true compromise" that balances industry growth with practical guardrails.
That balance also includes bank-friendly provisions, expanding the ability of traditional financial institutions to participate in stablecoins and other digital asset services. Consumer protections in the bill aim to prevent scenarios resembling the FTX collapse, which wiped out billions in customer funds.
Armstrong points to public support and vote math
Armstrong isn't relying only on industry arguments. He points to polling showing 70% of Americans favor clearer regulatory frameworks for digital assets. He has predicted the bill will clear over 60 votes in the Senate, enough to beat the 60-vote filibuster threshold.
He ties that confidence to momentum elsewhere in the industry: accelerating stablecoin adoption and the shift of real-world asset tokenization, such as treasuries and real estate, from concept to active market. Still, the Senate has postponed voting on the bill multiple times, and regulators have kept pushing parallel rulemaking of their own during the delay.
Why the vote matters beyond Washington
For retail investors, the consumer protection provisions may matter most. Codifying protections into federal law would give investors recourse they currently lack and give law enforcement clearer tools against bad actors. Armstrong also frames the bill as a way to stop crypto innovation from migrating to jurisdictions with clearer rules, such as the EU under MiCA or Singapore.
If the bill clears the Senate with the margin Armstrong expects, it would mark the most significant piece of crypto-specific legislation in US history. If it stalls again, the SEC and CFTC will keep contesting jurisdiction without a congressional referee to settle it.
Source: Crypto Briefing
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