Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad has publicly defended the CLARITY Act, criticizing The Wall Street Journal’s negative view of the bill and urging the U.S. Senate to pass it. In a post on X, Shirzad said the newspaper’s position was disappointing because, in his view, it abandoned free-market and competition principles in favor of regulatory barriers and echoed arguments from banking associations. He argued that the CLARITY Act already places multiple limits on stablecoin rewards and ties them to customer activity, while saying there is no evidence to support claims of deposit flight from banks. Shirzad added that three independent studies, including one from the White House Council of Economic Advisers, found no sign that stablecoin growth causes bank deposit outflows. He also rejected the idea that the bill would shield decentralized finance from accountability, saying it distinguishes between code developers and operators of financial intermediaries, while fraud, sanctions violations, and money laundering would still be subject to prosecution under the law. Shirzad said the United States needs durable federal rules for digital asset regulation.

The U.S. Crypto Clarity Act may be pushed back again as Congress heads toward its five-week August recess, with lawmakers expected to break as early as Thursday or Friday. The bill, which passed the House last year with bipartisan support, has remained stuck this year even as major crypto firms such as Coinbase and financial institutions including Fidelity and Goldman Sachs back the current version. The debate has widened beyond market structure. Senator Elizabeth Warren told Punchbowl News that more senators are starting to question crypto’s electoral strength, while pro-crypto Republicans such as Senator Cynthia Lummis have accused Democrats of holding the bill back after some party members said the current draft does not go far enough. A July draft circulated to address ethics concerns would bar government officials and their family members from issuing or promoting crypto. Other pressure points remain. Banking lobby groups have raised objections to stablecoin yield, arguing banks could lose deposits if exchanges offer attractive customer rewards. Some lawmakers have also pointed to President Donald Trump’s crypto-related business interests, including family earnings tied to meme coins and World Liberty Financial, as a source of conflict-of-interest concerns. Even so, bipartisan talks are still going on, according to Solana Institution president Kristin Smith.

Coinbase has overhauled a string of senior positions this month, touching legal, policy, technology, human resources, institutional operations, and Base. Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal is set to leave on July 31, with Molly Abraham stepping in as general counsel, while former SEC and White House official Ryan VanGrack takes a newly created vice chair role focused on policy and corporate affairs. The company also moved Greg Tusar into policy, shifted Chief People Officer Lawrence Brock into an advisory role, saw Base leader Jesse Pollak step back, and on July 28 named longtime executive Rob Witoff as chief technology officer. The reshuffle comes as Coinbase faces weaker trading activity. Benchmark cut its second-quarter revenue forecast, citing soft crypto trading, lower spot volume on centralized exchanges, and a roughly 30% pullback in Coinbase shares this year. At the same time, the company is trying to move from courtroom battles with regulators toward rulemaking, while pushing its “Everything Exchange” strategy across crypto, stocks, ETFs, prediction markets, and perpetuals. AI has become a second pillar, both inside the company, where it is used to increase engineering output, and outside, where Coinbase is building products around agent payments and what CEO Brian Armstrong describes as “agentic finance.”

A bipartisan compromise under the CLARITY Act would bar interest-like returns on stablecoins while allowing rewards tied to platform use, moving the bill closer to a Senate Banking Committee markup.

Coinbase has warned it could withdraw support for the CLARITY Act if the bill limits stablecoin rewards. The dispute centers on USDC rewards, bank lobbying, and whether the Senate can find a compromise before the broader bill loses momentum.

Coinbase is resisting efforts to tighten limits on stablecoin rewards in the U.S., warning that changes to current rules could weaken a business line projected to generate $1.3 billion in 2025.

Coinbase said a compromise over stablecoin rewards has cleared a major obstacle for the Crypto CLARITY Act, reopening its path in the Senate. The Senate Banking Committee is targeting early to mid-May 2026 for formal consideration.

U.S. Senate bipartisan lawmakers reach a final compromise on stablecoin yield provisions under the CLARITY Act, banning bank-like deposit interest but allowing conditional rewards. Coinbase policy chief says the deal preserves the right to earn based on actual usage.