Coinbase CEO Wins Trump’s Support in Crypto Bill Battle

President Donald Trump met Tuesday (March 3) with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong before publicly siding with the company in its ongoing fight with banks over the stalled stablecoin-focused bill, Politico reported, citing two sources with knowledge of the matter.

While it is not clear what transpired in the meeting, it happened just before a social media post from the president saying that banks “need to make a good deal with the Crypto Industry” so that the digital asset legislation can move forward.

Trump added that a recently adopted crypto law is “being threatened and undermined by the Banks, and that is unacceptable,” which is also Coinbase’s position.

As Politico notes, the debate is over whether Coinbase and other crypto exchanges should be permitted to offer rewards programs to customers who hold stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to hold a steady value against the U.S. dollar.

“Banks have increasingly lobbied against crypto offerings that resemble deposit products, especially stablecoin rewards that, in their view, compete against regulated interest accounts,” PYMNTS wrote in January after the CLARITY Act stalled in the Senate.

“This banking pushback has seeped into the legislative text, prompting provisions aimed at limiting crypto incentives, which were a key flashpoint for Coinbase and other developers of stablecoin-based products.”

Coinbase, which is the largest U.S.-based crypto exchange, has held a central role in the dispute. Before the Senate Banking Committee’s scheduled markup on the bill, Armstrong criticized the legislation, saying that “Draft amendments that would kill rewards on stablecoins, allowing banks to ban their competition.” 

Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said last month that the crypto industry should back the CLARITY Act and help get it passed as quickly as possible.

During an interview on CNBC, Bessent said the crypto market structure bill enjoys bipartisan support in Congress, but if it is held up, it could be defeated if the Democrats win control of the House in this year’s midterm elections.

PYMNTS wrote last week that the rise of stablecoins has been made possible by a shift among regulators, who are now treating the digital assets “less as crypto curiosities and more as bank-adjacent instruments requiring clear oversight.”

The PYMNTS Intelligence and Citi report “Chain Reaction: Regulatory Clarity as the Catalyst for Blockchain Adoption” argues that blockchain’s next leap will be shaped by regulation. While evolving guidance is starting to create the foundations for safe, scalable blockchain adoption, “implementation challenges continue to complicate progress.”