Crypto bills are 'like oil for the onchain economy,' Coinbase exec says

Coinbase execs are pushing US lawmakers to see stablecoin and market structure bills as interconnected pieces of a broader crypto regulatory framework. This comes as Congress continues to debate industry rules that could shape the future of onchain finance.

Speaking at the Blockchain Futurist Conference, Coinbase Chief Business Officer Shan Aggarwal dropped the 🔥 analogy: both the market structure bill (CLARITY in the House, now called Responsible Financial Innovation Act in the Senate) and the GENIUS stablecoin bill act "effectively like oil for the onchain economy."

Aggarwal broke it down: "GENIUS laid the foundation for stablecoins and stablecoin's supply to grow. As stablecoins supply grows, there's now more capital available onchain that can flow into new tokenized assets that will be enabled through Clarity. So, stablecoins that are idle onchain will flow into onchain money market funds or treasuries. So it really gets the whole ecosystem flowing in a very positive way that I think is very exciting for the growth of the industry."

Scott Meadows, Coinbase's interim head of business development, added: "GENIUS has started to unlock a tremendous amount of new enthusiasm and institutional interest as businesses and marketplaces are able to sort of understand better the rules of the road."

This comes as the US Treasury is considering recommendations on implementing the GENIUS Act. Coinbase submitted a letter requesting the government limit a ban on stablecoin interest payments exclusively to issuers, while allowing it for cryptocurrency exchanges.

While policymakers are working on GENIUS implementation, the market structure bill has been slowed by a US government shutdown and partisan divides. Lawmakers were reportedly still engaged in discussions as of Tuesday, but it's unclear if Republicans' 2026 deadline will hit.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong visited Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23 to chat with lawmakers on market structure. The CEO said there was consensus on about 90% of the legislative framework, showing significant progress despite the political gridlock.