@coinbase policy chief @faryarshirzad appeared on Fox Business on June 1 to make a pointed argument: the banks publicly fighting the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act are, behind closed doors,
@coinbase policy chief @faryarshirzad appeared on Fox Business on June 1 to make a pointed argument: the banks publicly fighting the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act are, behind closed doors, eager to benefit from it. "I know JPMorgan wants to get into it. Every other big bank wants to get into the crypto sector," Shirzad said, framing the legislation as the first bill since the 1990s to give banks formal authorization to enter the crypto market.
The timing of that statement was deliberate. Just days earlier, @jpmorgan CEO Jamie Dimon had vowed an all-out industry fight against the bill. Dimon argued the bill as written allows crypto firms to effectively pay interest on stablecoin deposits without the protections traditional banks must maintain, and said flatly that "the banks will not accept it that way." Dimon also took personal aim at Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, claiming Armstrong is spending hundreds of millions of dollars in Washington to advance the bill and saying "no one is going to bow down to this guy."
Shirzad's bullishness on passage is grounded in the bill's recent legislative progress. The Senate Banking Committee approved the CLARITY Act 15-9, with Democratic Senators Ruben Gallego of Arizona and Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland joining all Republicans on the panel. Shirzad pointed to that bipartisan momentum and cited roughly 80 House Democrats who backed the bill as further evidence of its viability. The House passed an earlier version of the CLARITY Act by a vote of 294 to 134 in July 2025.
Still, the path to enactment is not straightforward. The bill still needs to be merged with a similar version approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee, and then it must clear the full Senate, where 60 yes votes will be needed, necessarily including a significant number of Democrats. The measure faces opposition from banks, unions, and law enforcement agencies, who argue that various provisions could hurt consumers and endanger financial systems.
Shirzad framed the CLARITY Act as the most consequential financial regulatory legislation since Dodd-Frank. Senator Cynthia Lummis, one of the bill's most active champions, has warned that if this Congress does not act, the next realistic window for digital asset legislation may not come until 2030.
The administration has publicly expressed a desire to have crypto market structure legislation enacted by the Fourth of July, but hurdles remain. A central sticking point has been a conflict-of-interest provision related to government officials and crypto holdings. The issue is contentious because it stems from President Trump's own wide-ranging crypto interests, but White House officials have said they would not tolerate a bill that targets the president. Democrats, meanwhile, have said they will not allow the bill to move without such a section.
Sources:Fox Business: Jamie Dimon vows to fight CLARITY Act, calls Coinbase CEO 'full of s--t'CNBC: Crypto industry scores win as CLARITY Act clears Senate Banking CommitteeCoinDesk: CLARITY Act unveiled by Senate Banking Committee before hearing
