Coinbase Is ‘Relentlessly Optimistic’ on the CLARITY Act, and Now So Is Michael Saylor
“I support advancing the CLARITY Act through bipartisan work to establish clear, durable rules, protect property rights, promote innovation, and strengthen American capital markets. Bitcoin will succeed with or without legislation, but America needs clarity for digital assets.”
That statement, posted by Strategy founder Michael Saylor when the company formally announced its backing of the bill on July 31, captures the odd position the CLARITY Act now occupies in crypto: the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder doesn’t think Bitcoin needs it, and is lobbying for it anyway. Strategy’s endorsement added the most prominent name yet to a lobbying push that has been building for months, with the company framing the bill as a bipartisan framework that supports market expansion, institutional participation, consumer protection, and individual ownership of digital assets — all without diminishing Saylor’s separate, repeated point that Bitcoin itself will keep functioning regardless of what Congress does.
The bill in question would split regulatory oversight of digital assets between the SEC and the CFTC, aiming to end the years-long turf war between the two agencies over which tokens count as securities versus commodities, while also shielding blockchain developers from liability for how third parties misuse the software they write. The Senate has scheduled a procedural cloture vote for September 15, which requires 60 votes to clear — the same threshold the bill will ultimately need for full passage, making the cloture vote a genuine test rather than a formality.
Coinbase has emerged as the loudest institutional voice pushing for a “yes.” John D’Agostino, the company’s head of institutional strategy, has described himself as relentlessly optimistic about the bill’s chances, pointing to the GENIUS Act as precedent: that stablecoin bill was argued over right up until the final vote before it was signed into law in July 2025, and D’Agostino’s bet is that CLARITY follows a similar last-minute path to passage rather than stalling out. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has echoed that confidence publicly, telling CNBC he’s “pretty optimistic it will get over 60 votes.”
Not everyone reading the odds agrees with the executives closest to the bill. JPMorgan has put the probability of passage at around 37%, while bettors on Polymarket have priced it even lower, near 31% — a noticeably more cautious read than what Coinbase and Strategy are projecting publicly. That gap between market-implied odds and executive optimism is itself part of the story here: the companies with the most to gain from regulatory clarity are also the ones most invested in projecting confidence, whether or not the vote count ultimately bears it out on September 15.
Legislative outcomes are inherently uncertain and the odds and timelines discussed here can change quickly; nothing in this article is financial or legal advice. Readers wanting more background on the regulatory landscape Bitcoin operates in can explore coin680’s Bitcoin Academy.