Ripple CEO Sees 90% Chance for Crypto Bill Breakthrough

Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse thinks there is a 90% chance the CLARITY Act will be signed into law by the end of April, he said in a Thursday (Feb. 19) interview on Fox Business.

“The White House is pushing hard on this, and I think that is a big reason why it will get done,” Garlinghouse said. “It needs to get done for U.S. leadership.”

Conceding the bill is not perfect, Garlinghouse said Ripple’s stand on the bill is, “Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress.” He added that the progress of the CLARITY Act stalled because some in the crypto industry pushed for the bill to be closer to perfect.

“The industry can’t live in limbo, so our argument is, the CLARITY Act, it needs to get done for the industry to thrive here in the United States,” Garlinghouse said.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who said Jan. 14 that Coinbase had withdrawn its support for the Senate Banking Committee’s draft of a market structure bill for digital assets, said Thursday that the legislation is making progress.

“Market structure is making great progress, and I believe we’re going to reach a win-win-win outcome,” Armstrong said in a Thursday post on X. “A win for the crypto industry. A win for the banks. And, most importantly, a win for the American consumer.”

Representatives of the cryptocurrency and banking industries negotiated details of the CLARITY Act Thursday in a meeting hosted by the White House, Coinbase reported Thursday. This was the third such meeting focused on the crypto market structure bill.

While some progress was made, significant barriers remain, including the banking industry’s demand that the CLARITY Act reverse a provision in the GENIUS Act, which is now law, that allowed crypto firms to offer rewards on stablecoins, according to the report. In addition, Democratic lawmakers are pressing to prohibit senior government officials from having significant business interests in the crypto industry.

Thursday’s meeting lasted well beyond its scheduled two hours, with White House officials pressuring the participants to reach a compromise, per the report.