The War for Independence: Why Did Coinbase “Kill” the Clarity Act?

Banks are behaving like leeches who fear they will run out of hosts, trying to block the fair interest rates that crypto offers to ordinary people.

The Clarity Act was supposed to be the long-awaited peace, but it turned out to be a Trojan horse for traditional banks. Brian Armstrong (CEO Coinbase) became an essential “pivot” for the entire industry after the historic gesture in this first month of 2026: the sudden withdrawal of support for a law that, under the guise of regulation, tried to stifle innovation.

Why did it get to this point? Because banks lobbied heavily to introduce a ban on crypto exchanges paying interest or rewards on stablecoins (like USDC). Their motivation is purely selfish: if you earn 5% interest on USDC in Coinbase, you have no reason to keep your money in a savings account at a traditional bank, where you earn a paltry 0.5%.

Banks see this as an existential threat. While the bill would have severely restricted crypto exchanges, the same version would have allowed banks to issue their own digital currencies under much more relaxed rules. It’s a direct attack on our financial freedom.

• Too much power for the SEC: The new version would have given the SEC veto power, leaving the future of crypto in the hands of politicians who want to maintain control at all costs.

• Death of anonymity: The bill would have destroyed privacy in DeFi, giving the government full access to your financial data.

• Betrayal of regulation: Armstrong made the right choice: better no law than a bad law that turns us into digital slaves.

The news has cut into the bullish momentum that started 2026. The Trump administration is said to be “furious” with Coinbase, calling the move a betrayal after months of negotiations. But the market declines are just noise; Armstrong has already left for Davos to meet with the heads of the big banks and demonstrate that crypto is the new financial system, not just an accessory to the old one.

We are at a turning point... While “senile” politicians and money-lending institutions try to maintain their monopoly, the real victory will come through education. We do not need a “center” to allow us to exist. The future belongs to total decentralization, where code, not political interest, makes the law.