Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong claimed that the crypto market structure bill has received strong bipartisan support in the Senate and could potentially pass in November.
- Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said there is strong bipartisan momentum in the Senate to pass the crypto market structure bill by Thanksgiving, emphasizing that it could replicate the GENIUS Act’s market impact.
- While Coinbase supports the bill as a major step toward regulatory clarity and institutional adoption, the company has also warned against overly restrictive DeFi provisions that could hinder innovation.
Shortly after his meeting with Senate Democrats in the crypto roundtable hosted on Oct. 22, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong told CNBC that there is currently strong support to pass the crypto market structure bill from both sides of the Senate. Based on prior discussions, he claimed that the majority of issues pertaining the bill have been agreed upon and a draft text may be presented soon.
“We had great meetings with the Democrats in the Senate and on the Republican side today, and the good news is that there’s strong bipartisan support and will to get this market structural legislation done,” said Armstrong in his interview.
According to Armstrong, the committee is aiming to have it passed by Thanksgiving in order to achieve the same effect that the GENIUS Act had on the market. After the GENIUS ACT was signed by President Donald Trump in July 2025, the crypto market saw an immediate surge in stablecoin adoption, particularly USD-backed tokens.
“It gave a chance for the U.S dollar to really be exported around the world and all these dollar denominated accounts, and so they want to see something similar now happen with market structure,” said Armstrong.
In the interview, Armstrong also addressed the leaked Democratic DeFi proposal that had been circulating online.
The draft regulation sparked concerns among traders and crypto industry leaders as it appeared to tighten regulations on the DeFi community. Armstrong was one of the most vocal critics that called the draft “a bad proposal” that would set innovation back and hinder the U.S progress towards becoming the crypto capital of the world.
After speaking with Senate Democrats, he clarified that the proposal was not a serious one. He also said that decentralized finance should be preserved and that lawmakers should regulate centralized custodians and exchanges like Coinbase instead of the protocols themselves.
Now, Armstrong is optimistic that the bill would be approved this year with a committee vote possibly taking place in November.
“In the House, the Clarity bill already had a strong bipartisan support. So this is the Senate doing their own version of it and then the two could come together and get it on the president’s desk hopefully shortly thereafter,” said Armstrong.
Coinbase’s stance on the market structure bill
Coinbase has mostly expressed support for the emerging U.S. crypto market-structure legislation, while also providing cautionary notes towards certain provisions in the draft. Armstrong in particular sees the legislation as a pivotal moment for the industry, providing long-awaited clarity around how digital assets are regulated, which he believes will unlock innovation and institutional participation.
Based on the previous draft that was circulating online, the company has voiced concerns regarding the provisions that could impose disproportionate burdens on protocols or front-ends, or extend broad regulatory reach into decentralized finance in ways Coinbase argues go beyond necessary investor protections.
In its research and public commentary, Coinbase has also underscored the importance of regulatory clarity as a driver of growth in the crypto market. In a June 2025 Monthly Outlook report, the company described the crypto market-structure bill as a key regulatory development that could further shape the landscape.
Whether the legislation focuses on delineating authority between the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission or defining the different types of digital asset classes, Coinbase views such clarity as essential to enabling both institutional participation and mainstream adoption.
