White House threatens to withdraw support for crypto bill after Coinbase move, calling it a rug pull on the industry
The White House stressed that one company does not represent the entire industry.
The Trump administration has threatened to completely withdraw its support for the crypto market structure legislation if Coinbase does not return to negotiations with a yield agreement acceptable to banks, according to Crypto In America’s Eleanor Terrett.
🚨SCOOP: The White House is considering pulling its support for the crypto market structure bill entirely if @coinbase does not come back to the table with a yield agreement that satisfies the banks and gets everyone to a deal, a source close to the Trump administration tells me.…
— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) January 17, 2026
Coinbase walked away from negotiations ahead of a key Senate Banking Committee markup on the bill earlier this week, a major setback given the exchange’s prior involvement and public support for the legislation.
CEO Brian Armstrong publicly opposed certain provisions in the new draft in a statement released Wednesday.
After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last 48hrs, Coinbase unfortunately can’t support the bill as written.
There are too many issues, including:
– A defacto ban on tokenized equities
– DeFi prohibitions, giving the government unlimited access to your financial…— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) January 14, 2026
According to sources, the White House is reportedly furious over Coinbase’s “unilateral” move, which officials say occurred without prior notice, calling it a “rug pull” on both the administration and the industry.