Billionaire Brian Armstrong is the founder and CEO of Coinbase Global (Nasdaq: COIN), the largest crypto exchange in the United States.
He was among those present at the White House meeting on Aug. 19 where President Donald Trump doubled down on his pro-crypto agenda and urged the U.S. Congress to pass a "fair version" of the CLARITY Act. The legislation aims to establish the most comprehensive regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S.
The Treasury also made a major announcement yesterday that it is going to increase the amount of longer-term government bond buybacks at least twice. The move could inject liquidity into the market.
Following these twin announcements, the crypto market immediately began rallying.
As Bitcoin (BTC) surpassed the price mark of $72,000 for the first time after more than 2.5 months on Aug. 20, Armstrong appeared for an interview with Stuart Varney on Fox Business.
When Varney asked Armstrong if Bitcoin was rallying due to anticipation around the passage of the CLARITY Act, the Coinbase CEO didn't disagree. He talked about the upcoming Senate vote on Sep. 15 and said the bipartisan compromise on the legislation makes him hopeful for more than 60 votes in favor of the bill.
Armstrong said there was a "big sense of urgency" from the Trump administration at the meeting yesterday, which wants to pass the legislation soon.
These factors are leading to the Bitcoin rebound, and it's the beginning of the next crypto bull run, he added.
When Varney further asked Armstrong if the U.S. is the world's crypto capital as Trump had promised, the billionaire agreed and credited the president for the development.
He not only mentioned Trump's pro-crypto initiatives such as the executive order to create a federal-level strategic Bitcoin reserve, the GENIUS Act to regulate stablecoins, and the appointment of Paul Atkins and Mike Selig as chairs of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), but he also emphasized the requirement of the CLARITY Act for clear crypto regulation in the country.
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Regarding the banks' opposition to the CLARITY Act, he said that though some banks like Goldman Sachs, Citi, and BNY have come around to accept it, some banks are opposed to it because they fear competition from the digital assets industry.