Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong Predicts 60 Senate Votes as Bitcoin (BTC) Faces CLARITY Act

Coinbase CEO Sees 60 Votes for CLARITY Act

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the U.S. market-structure bill known as the CLARITY Act is in its final negotiating stage and should clear the 60-vote threshold when the Senate takes up the measure on Sept. 15. Armstrong argued in a recent interview that vague crypto rules have hurt everyday users, pointing to the 2022 FTX collapse as a case where consumer protections failed. The proposed legislation would draw a line between SEC and CFTC jurisdiction, classifying most digital assets, from Bitcoin to smaller altcoins, as commodities under CFTC oversight, and would add anti-money-laundering, consumer-protection and capital-raising provisions. Republicans hold 53 Senate seats, so supporters need at least seven Democratic votes to invoke cloture. The House passed its version 294-134 last July, and the Senate Banking Committee approved its own bill 15-9 in May. Armstrong said he expects more than 60 votes as negotiations reach their final stage.

Gillibrand Sets Condition for CLARITY Vote

Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said she will support the market-structure legislation only if it includes an enforceable ban on the president, the president's spouse and senior officials issuing, sponsoring or profiting from digital assets while in office, a category that includes altcoins. The New York Democrat framed the condition as a red line, arguing that a law enforced by a Justice Department led by a president who profits from crypto would be a license rather than reform. Gillibrand cited a national Ipsos poll of 1,166 U.S. adults conducted Aug. 14-17 that found 63% consider President Trump and his family's crypto earnings inappropriate. The senator has backed regulated digital-asset markets in the past and helped write bipartisan crypto bills, but she said ethics enforcement must be part of the CLARITY Act. The demand adds a new complication ahead of the Sept. 15 cloture vote, where Democratic support will be decisive.

Trump Filing Shows 7 Crypto-Linked Trades

President Trump's June financial disclosure, published by the Office of Government Ethics, records more than 1,000 securities transactions worth up to $263 million, but only seven involved crypto-linked equities. Coinbase appeared four times: three sales on June 12, 18 and 23 totaling between $116,003 and $315,000, and one purchase on June 24 in the $50,001-$100,000 band. Strategy Inc., the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, drew two sales on June 23 and 24 totaling $16,002 to $65,000, with no purchases recorded. Robinhood Markets had one line, a June 3 purchase of $1,001 to $15,000. No spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds or mining companies appeared in the document. The largest single transaction was a June 22 sale of between $5 million and $25 million of a Vanguard exchange-traded fund. The White House said independent financial managers handle the president's investments and that no conflicts exist.

2.62M TRUMP Tokens Moved to OKX

The altcoin TRUMP came under heavy selling pressure after on-chain data showed a wallet linked to the token's team transferred 2.62 million TRUMP, worth roughly $6.2 million, to the OKX exchange. A transfer to a trading platform does not confirm a sale, but traders often read such moves as preparation to liquidate. The outflow followed a rally that took the token from below $1.50 to more than $3.60, its highest level since March, before it fell back to about $2.40, a drop of roughly 33% from that peak. Despite the decline, TRUMP remains inside the top 100 coins by market capitalization, near $600 million, while staying about 97% below its all-time high above $73. The token set an all-time low near $1.37 last week. U.S. senators have previously asked the SEC to investigate the token over concerns about retail investors.

Sept. 15 Vote Sets Regulatory Path

Seen together, the four stories point to one theme: Washington's handling of Trump's crypto interests is now inseparable from the market-structure debate. The official documents involved are clear on the stakes. The certified OGE filing we are looking at, published June 30, shows Trump reported more than $1.4 billion in crypto-related income for 2025, largely from World Liberty Financial and Trump-branded meme coins. The CLARITY Act remains proposed legislation, not a final rule; the Sept. 15 cloture vote will determine whether it moves toward enactment. If it stalls, CFTC Chair Mike Selig has said the agency will begin using existing authority to write crypto market rules on Sept. 16. The coming days will show whether legislative clarity or agency rulemaking arrives first.