A significant meeting is scheduled for next Monday at the White House, bringing together lobbying groups and executives from both the US banking and cryptocurrency industries as a contentious piece of digital asset legislation sparks intense debate. The proposed talks stem from Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN.US) CEO Brian Armstrong's public withdrawal of support for a core draft of a highly anticipated bill aimed at reshaping cryptocurrency market structure. According to an informed source, despite nearly two weeks of subsequent negotiations, parties have yet to finalize a compromise that would restart progress on the draft bill. Another source indicated that if a consensus cannot be reached, the White House meeting scheduled for next week may be postponed. One of the sources confirmed that Coinbase will have representatives present at the White House meeting. As of now, neither Coinbase nor the White House has immediately responded to requests for comment.
In mid-January, Coinbase formally withdrew its support for the version of the bill drafted by the Senate Banking Committee. Mere hours later, the committee's chairman, Tim Scott, announced that deliberations on this eagerly awaited legislation would be postponed, without providing a new date for consideration. Concurrently, the Senate Agriculture Committee is set to debate its version of the draft bill and consider related amendment proposals this Thursday. Coinbase has voiced opposition to a specific legislative demand from banking lobbyists: their attempt to insert clauses into the bill that would restrict cryptocurrency exchanges' ability to offer rewards related to users holding their coins. The banking industry argues that such reward activities for holding coins divert customer deposits away from banks; cryptocurrency exchanges, however, contend that this is simply about offering users more attractive service options.
The Blockchain Association, a digital asset industry advocacy group, stated in a declaration that it appreciates the White House's role in facilitating a meeting of relevant stakeholders to advance a compromise on the issue of stablecoin holding rewards. The growing political clout of the cryptocurrency industry was further underscored by an announcement this Wednesday from its political action committee, Fairshake, which revealed it has amassed a war chest exceeding $193 million ahead of the midterm elections, funded largely by substantial donations from Coinbase, Ripple, and venture firm a16z. Fairshake stated these funds will be used to persistently oppose politicians holding "anti-crypto" stances.
This move echoes Armstrong's previous social media posts. Just hours before withdrawing support for the Senate Banking Committee's draft bill, Armstrong posted on the X platform on January 14th, stating, "Reminder that @standwithcrypto will be scoring the Senate bill this week." This initiative was originally launched by Coinbase in 2023. He added at the time, "Then we will see which Senators are selling out Americans to the banks, and which are standing with consumers to allow them to earn rewards."
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