Coinbase fires back at Warren: CLARITY Act is a national security feature, not bug 🪙

Coinbase Chief Policy Officer Faryar Shirzad has rejected claims by Senator Elizabeth Warren that the CLARITY Act would weaken US national security, arguing instead that clearer digital asset rules would tighten oversight of the industry. The public exchange comes as the Senate prepares to release a merged draft of the bill, one of the most consequential pieces of US crypto legislation to advance through Congress.

Shirzad said the CLARITY Act would strengthen national security by bringing cryptocurrency platforms under a defined regulatory framework. According to Coinbase, the legislation would require crypto companies to meet compliance standards comparable to those applied to traditional financial institutions, closing gaps that can be exploited for illicit finance.

Warren has raised separate concerns that the bill, as currently structured, could make sanctions evasion easier by altering how certain digital asset activities are classified and overseen. Her office has urged lawmakers to incorporate stronger anti-money laundering and sanctions enforcement provisions before the legislation advances.

The CLARITY Act is intended to establish a unified regulatory structure for digital assets in the United States, assigning jurisdiction between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and setting standards for market participants, disclosure, and supervision. Coinbase has been among the most active industry voices pushing for passage of the bill, alongside other major exchanges and crypto advocacy groups.

Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have indicated that negotiations on the merged Senate draft are in their final stages, with a formal release expected in the coming weeks. The bill's path forward will depend on whether the Senate version can be reconciled with existing House proposals and whether national security concerns raised by Warren and other senators are addressed in the final text.