Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini urge Senate to drop token listing rule

Earlier in 2026, Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini asked U.S. senators to remove language from a market structure bill that would have limited exchanges to listing only digital assets “not readily susceptible to manipulation.” The exchanges argued the phrase was vague and could prevent platforms from offering trading in smaller tokens.

An edit removing that language appeared after the Senate Agriculture Committee advanced its version of the bill in January, following communications involving crypto firms, lawmakers and administration officials.

The measure traces to an earlier House bill from July 2025 known as the CLARITY Act. That bill would expand the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s authority over certain digital assets. In March, the CFTC and the Securities and Exchange Commission announced plans to coordinate oversight of the crypto industry even if Congress does not act.

The Senate Banking Committee postponed a scheduled markup hours after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote that the exchange could not support the legislation “as written,” citing concerns about how tokenized equities would be treated. Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad described the reporting as “old news” on social media and noted the disputed language was part of the Agriculture Committee markup.

Industry and lawmakers have continued talks on technical and policy details. Two senators recently announced a compromise on stablecoin yield that industry and banking groups had discussed, a development that could help the bill advance in the banking committee.

Coinbase U.S. policy vice president Kara Calvert indicated the exchange expected a banking committee markup to occur within days. Some lawmakers predicted the bill could clear Congress before the Senate’s August recess. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt urged the House to vote by July 4 if the Senate acts in June.

Supporters of stricter listing standards say a clear rule preventing trading in assets readily susceptible to manipulation would reduce fraud and market abuse. Exchanges counter that the phrase is subjective and could create legal and operational uncertainty, affecting their ability to list emerging tokens that lack deep capital markets but have active communities and use cases.

Lawmakers and regulators are continuing to refine definitions and jurisdictional boundaries that will determine how digital assets are traded and supervised. Negotiations in committees and parallel regulatory coordination are ongoing as the industry and Congress work through those details.