Coinbase Chief Blames Bank Campaign for Clarity Act Vote Failure

Faryar Shirzad, Coinbase’s chief policy officer, attributed the Clarity Act’s failure to reach cloture in the Senate to a $200 million effort by large banks and the bill’s position late in the legislative cycle, according to Bitcoin Magazine. He stated that these two factors made a successful vote impossible.

The financial weight of the banking campaign, combined with the compressed electoral calendar, drained the support needed to move the legislation forward. This specific mix of timing and money blocked the path to a final vote.

The failure has redirected the industry’s focus toward existing regulators. Shirzad indicated that the next phase of crypto policy will rely on the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and bank regulators led by Paul Atkins. He outlined a strategy that now runs on three parallel tracks: legislation, regulation, and international policy.

Shirzad maintains that this multi-track approach preserves the momentum for crypto policy. The work has shifted from passing a single bill to implementing rules across established agencies.