Coinbase Executive Defends US Clarity Act Timeline

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, or CLARITY Act, is moving along the appropriate timeline despite the crypto industry’s growing impatience, according to a Coinbase executive.

“I completely understand why this is taking longer,” Coinbase Institutional head of strategy John D’Agostino said during an interview on CNBC on Friday.

“It’s the kind of bill that is quite frankly more foundational for the growth of crypto or any real asset class,” he said, emphasizing that it makes sense for the process to take some time.

He said that the CLARITY Act is a lot more complex than the Genius Act, the stablecoin legislation that was passed into US law in July.

While he acknowledged the Genius Act was “not simple, but transformative,” he said that it “dealt with structurally simpler things than market structure bills.”

“Massive flight of talent” will propel the legislation

It comes just weeks after White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks said that the CLARITY Act may receive the greenlight in January.

”We are closer than ever to passing the landmark crypto market structure legislation that President Trump has called for. We look forward to finishing the job in January,” he said on Dec. 19.

D’Agostino said he is confident that the CLARITY Act will pass soon, pointing to growing momentum for crypto regulation globally, including Europe’s MiCA regulations and the United Arab Emirates’ continued progress on regulatory clarity.

He also acknowledged the “massive flight of talent” from the US to other countries, which may only put more pressure on US lawmakers to move as quickly as possible on the CLARITY Act in 2026.

“Part of the rush to get Genius done was to stem that bleeding,” he said. 

“I think once we get back in session and everyone can take time to absorb what’s happening, that same burning platform will appear where we really don’t want the US to fall as behind as it’s been on transformational technologies like artificial intelligence and blockchain,” he added.

Clarity Act delays have led to market uncertainty, says CoinShares

CoinShares recently attributed $952 million in outflows from crypto investment products during the week ending Dec. 19 to delays in passing the CLARITY Act, citing prolonged “regulatory uncertainty” as one of the potential catalysts.

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Meanwhile, veteran trader Peter Brandt said the potential passage of the US CLARITY Act is unlikely to have a significant impact on Bitcoin’s price.

“Is it a world-shaking macro development? Nope. Needed for sure, but not something that should redefine value,” Brandt told Cointelegraph.

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