Crypto Leaders Call for Negotiations as Senate Postpones Markup of Crypto Bill

The Senate Banking Committee postponed its markup of digital asset market structure legislation after cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase withdrew its support for the draft.

The markup had been scheduled for Thursday (Jan. 15).

Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott of South Carolina announced the pause in a Wednesday (Jan. 14) press release , saying bipartisan negotiations would continue and leaders from the crypto industry, the financial sector and senators from both parties were “at the table working in good faith.”

In a Wednesday post on social platform X, Scott said: “As we take a brief pause before moving to a markup, this market structure bill reflects months of serious bipartisan negotiations and real input from innovators, investors and law enforcement. The goal is to deliver clear rules of the road that protect consumers, strengthen our national security, and ensure the future of finance is built in the United States.”

I’ve spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith.

As we take a brief pause before moving to a markup, this market structure bill reflects months of…

— Senator Tim Scott (@SenatorTimScott) January 15, 2026

Scott posted his statement about five hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said his company had withdrawn its support for the committee’s draft of the market structure bill .

“We’d rather have no bill than a bad bill,” Armstrong said in a Wednesday post on X. “Hopefully we can all get to a better draft.”

After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs, Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written.

There are too many issues, including:

– A defacto ban on tokenized equities
– DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial…

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 14, 2026

Armstrong said in his post that his objections to the bill included what he described as a de facto ban on tokenized equities, DeFi prohibitions that give the government access to users’ financial records, erosion of the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission , and draft amendments that would eliminate rewards on stablecoins.

Arjun Sethi , co-CEO of Kraken Digital Asset Exchange , said in a Wednesday post on X that he and his company remain committed to supporting efforts to advance the bill and helping to resolve the remaining issues.

“When the United States delays or fragments market structure, activity does not disappear,” Sethi said in the post. “It reallocates often offshore beyond the reach of U.S. consumer protections, U.S. supervision and U.S. markets. That outcome does not strengthen American leadership. It weakens it.”

I and @KrakenFX remains fully committed to supporting Chairman @SenatorTimScott and Subcommittee Chair @CynthiaMLummis’s efforts to advance the market structure bill. It has taken many years of sustained bipartisan work to get to this point across administrations market cycles…

— Arjun Sethi (@arjunsethi) January 14, 2026

Dante Disparte , chief strategy officer and head of global policy and operations at stablecoin issuer Circle , said in a Wednesday post on X that a durable financial law requires bipartisan support, the GENIUS Act is such a law, and Circle encourages Congress to remain engaged on advancing crypto market structure rules.

“The opportunity to do with market structure what was done with GENIUS will be missed if negotiations and bipartisanship breaks down,” Disparte said in the post.

A durable financial law that is in the national interest requires bipartisan support. The landmark GENIUS Act is such a law, which is advancing apace in the rulemaking process. We encourage Congress to remain engaged in a bipartisan manner on advancing crypto market structure…

— Dante Disparte (@ddisparte) January 14, 2026