CLARITY Act Setback Puts Coinbase in the Spotlight

Greater Impact on Coinbase from CLARITY Act Stalling

Saxo Bank strategist Ruben Dalfovo highlighted that Coinbase faces heightened risk from the setback of the CLARITY Act because its trading operations are directly influenced by US market structure regulations. In a note following the failed vote, Dalfovo explained that the bill’s rules could have set registration criteria, designated tradable assets, and regulated platform participants—all crucial to Coinbase’s business.

He further noted that while other crypto firms will be affected, their exposure to market rules is less direct. Circle’s business is tied to USDC adoption and reserve yields, and Strategy’s concerns involve Bitcoin holdings and financing.

Market reaction aligned with these assessments: shares of Coinbase, Circle and Strategy dropped between 5% and 10% following the procedural vote, continuing to decline the next day.

Standard Chartered’s Optimistic Outlook on Arbitrum

Standard Chartered expects Arbitrum’s native token ARB to outperform Bitcoin and Ether by 2030 due to growing involvement of traditional finance firms moving assets on the blockchain and evolving the network’s economics.

Geoff Kendrick, the bank’s global head of digital asset research, said Arbitrum collects 10% of net protocol revenue from projects building on its layer-2 network. The launch of Robinhood Chain in July significantly boosted the protocol’s economics, with estimated revenue for September rising to $5 million—more than five times prior levels.

Given ARB’s recent price around $0.14 (up 86% over the past month), the bank projects it reaching $10 by 2030—an approximately 70-fold increase.

The bank’s thesis is based on tokenized assets growing to $39 billion and forecasts hitting $4 trillion by 2028. Arbitrum’s infrastructure and revenue model position it as a beneficiary, though adoption speed remains uncertain.

Bitmine’s Growing Staking Revenue from Ether Treasury

Bitmine projects an annual staking income of approximately $334 million by leveraging its $15.8 billion crypto treasury, predominantly Ether holdings. It currently holds 5.95 million ETH, representing 4.9% of total circulating supply, and has staked over 5 million ETH producing steady recurring revenue even during volatile markets.

The company increased its holdings by 27,180 ETH last week. For context, Grayscale Ethereum Staking ETF stakes roughly 84.6% of its Ether, underscoring the prominence of staking as an income mechanism.

Unlike Bitcoin-focused treasury firms, Bitmine benefits from recurring staking revenue, and while its stock price has risen nearly 38% this past month, it remains down year-to-date. Meanwhile, Strategy has paused Bitcoin purchases for a second week, instead repurchasing $139.3 million in preferred stock.

Phemex CEO’s Caution on AI’s Negative Effects

Federico Variola, CEO of crypto exchange Phemex, expressed concerns that artificial intelligence has been a ‘net negative’ for the crypto industry, diverting liquidity and empowering attackers exploiting protocols.

He referenced a July incident where about $116 million in Bitcoin was drained from over 5,200 addresses connected to a Coldcard hardware wallet vulnerability allegedly discovered via malicious AI use.

Rodolfo Novak, CEO of Coinkite, highlighted that AI-assisted code review now surpasses seasoned experts, raising cybersecurity challenges.

Variola warned that AI threats might reduce self-custody and DeFi’s appeal to retail users, potentially driving greater centralization in crypto. He acknowledged practical uses for AI in portfolio management and trading but maintained that human judgment remains irreplaceable. Conversely, CertiK’s Natalie Newson emphasized that AI can also serve as a powerful defense mechanism.