🥛 Brian Armstrong vs. the Senate 🔥

GM. This is Milk Road, the crypto newsletter that breaks down congressional drama like it’s an episode of Real Housewives.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

✍️ Brian Armstrong vs. the Senate.
🎙️ The Milk Road Show: Should You Believe In This Bitcoin Rally? w/ Michael Nadeau.
🍪 Kaito’s token plunged after X banned reward-for-posting apps.

Bitfinex is the first major exchange to remove trading fees entirely. Trade on Bitfinex for free now.

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BRIAN ARMSTRONG VS. THE SENATE ⚔️

So the CLARITY Act postponement we covered yesterday?

Yeah, ah – it has heated way up since then!

The whole story went from one of ‘bureaucratic red tape’ to ‘gossip column fodder’ real quick.

Coinbase and its CEO Brian Armstrong joined the fight, and for the first time in recent memory – not everyone was supportive of what Brian had to say. 👇

Source: @FireMoonIce

(Damn @FireMoonIce! Who hurt you? I don’t think it was Brian.)

So…

What’s the controversy?
Which crypto assets does this affect?
And how important is this, really (will it still matter in 2 weeks)?

Let’s get into it.

1. What’s the controversy?

Band-aid off: after seeing what the Senate Banking Committee had done to the bill, Coinbase pulled its support for the CLARITY Act entirely.

Which, in a mid-term election year (when bills are already harder to pass), isn’t great for momentum.

But it’s not like it wasn’t for a good reason:

Source: @brian_armstrong

This is the legislative version of your one keto friend (the Senate Banking Committee) coming to dinner and ordering $200 worth of keto-only appetizers for the table.

The Senate’s additions appear to be solely in their interest – designed to protect/extend the banking sector’s regulatory moat.

(Making things worse for the broader crypto industry, so they can maintain an unfair advantage.)

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BRIAN ARMSTRONG VS. THE SENATE (P2) ⚔️

Where were we?

Ah yes, ‘things getting worse’…

2. Which crypto assets does this affect?

* Checks CLARITY Act draft * Ummm, most of them.

BTC and ETH already have solid regulatory clarity in the U.S., giving institutional investors the green light to buy them – but just about every other token is still stuck in a gray area.

The CLARITY Act was originally drafted to fix this and help bring the global financial system onchain… but a chunk of these recent changes could act as harsh roadblocks.

3. So how important is this, really (will it still matter in 2 weeks)?

Short answer: very, and yes.

Matt Hougan framed it beautifully with his Groundhog Day analogy:

Source: @Matt_Hougan

Ok, so it affects the entire crypto industry and is pivotal to 2026’s market outcome…

(This current stagnation is starting to feel very worrying.)

Bup bup bup!

Let’s talk ourselves off the proverbial ledge here (before we sell everything and move to a cabin in the woods).

Coinbase’s backing obviously holds a lot of weight in this situation – and Brian knows it.

So his removal of support feels more like a bargaining tactic than it does him taking his ball and going home all together.

(Point being: we get the feeling our bald king has a lot more fight in him yet.)

And betting markets tend to agree. After a shaky few days, in which the likelihood of the bill passing this year dropped as low as 19% – we’re back above 60% baaaby!

Source: Polymarket

So for now, we’re going to snort a couple chill pills and wait for more news.

And of course, we’ll keep you updated when it hits. 🫡

P.S. We recently released a PRO report covering why we think 2026 is the most important year in investing history - and the CLARITY Act plays a big part in it all.

In fact, we believe this report is so important that we made it free - check it out here!

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