Brian Armstrong held discussions with Trump prior to the president’s criticism of banks regarding the cryptocurrency legislation.

CoinDesk confirmed the meeting between the US president and the Coinbase CEO took place as initially reported by Politico.

Sources indicate that Donald Trump and Brian Armstrong convened prior to the U.S. president criticizing banks regarding the crypto legislation. (Credit: Library of Congress on Unsplash/Modified by CoinDesk)

Key points:

• President Donald Trump held a private meeting with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong just before publicly accusing banks of attempting to undermine the pro-crypto GENIUS Act and advocating for the passage of the Clarity Act.
• This meeting, originally reported by Politico, occurred as Trump shared on Truth Social that banks “need to make a good deal with the Crypto Industry” to progress stalled digital asset legislation on Capitol Hill.
• The crypto market structure bill has faced delays due to a conflict between banks, which caution that interest-bearing stablecoins may diminish deposits and lending, and crypto companies, which assert that the GENIUS Act allows consumers to safely earn rewards on their stablecoin holdings.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong met privately shortly before the president stated that bankers are attempting to undermine the GENIUS Act in a post on Truth Social, as confirmed by CoinDesk.

“The U.S. needs to get Market Structure done, ASAP. Americans should earn more money on their money,” Trump mentioned in the post on Tuesday. “The Banks are hitting record profits, and we are not going to allow them to undermine our powerful Crypto Agenda that will end up going to China and other Countries if we don’t get The Clarity Act taken care of.”

Politico was the first to report on the meeting between Armstrong and Trump. Following this, the president publicly supported Coinbase’s “position in [the] ongoing lobbying clash with banks that has derailed a major cryptocurrency bill.”

The news outlet referenced “two sources familiar with the matter who were granted anonymity to discuss a closed-door matter” regarding the meeting between Trump and Armstrong. It was also noted that the specifics of their discussion remained unclear.

However, it was emphasized that “it came just before Trump wrote on social media that banks ‘need to make a good deal with the Crypto Industry’ to advance digital asset legislation that has stalled on Capitol Hill.”

Neither the White House nor Coinbase has responded to CoinDesk’s request for comments.

The market structure bill has been delayed since lawmakers on the Senate Banking Committee were scheduled to debate and vote on it. The main issue preventing the crypto bill’s passage is that banks argue that stablecoin interest rates could influence bank deposits and, consequently, their lending capacity. Crypto exchanges contend that individuals should have the opportunity to earn rewards on their stablecoin holdings, which they assert the GENIUS Act permits.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon stated on Tuesday that stablecoin issuers paying interest on customer balances should be regulated as banks. Patrick Witt, the executive director of the President’s Council of Advisors for Digital Assets, countered Dimon’s remarks, asserting that “the deceit here is that it is not the paying of yield on a balance per se that necessitates bank-like regulations, but rather the lending out or rehypothecation of the dollars that make up the underlying balance.” Witt also clarified that the GENIUS Act “explicitly forbids stablecoin issuers from doing the latter. Stablecoins ≠ Deposits.”

Crypto-related stocks, including COIN, increased on Wednesday amid a broader rise in crypto prices. COIN surpassed $200, achieving its highest value since late January.