Coinbase’s Q3 Lobbying Estimate Fell 10.3% During CLARITY Act Fight

Coinbase’s estimated federal lobbying expenses fell to $1.04 million in Q3 2026, a 10.3% decline from Q2 that cannot be tied to the Senate’s Sept. 15 CLARITY Act vote. The Q3 estimate was $120,000 below the $1.16 million estimate for April 1-June 30 and covered July 1-Sept. 30. The disclosure provides no monthly breakdown, so it does not show whether the decline happened before or after the vote.

The filing describes the Q3 amount as a good-faith estimate rounded to $10,000 increments. Its listed lobbying subjects include H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, stablecoin provisions in the GENIUS Act, digital-asset tax issues, and SEC and CFTC rulemaking on crypto assets. It also names the House, Senate, CFTC, Commerce Department and Treasury as bodies lobbied. The company-specific figure adds detail to the wider Q3 lobbying pullback among crypto groups.

On Sept. 15, the Senate held a cloture vote on a motion to proceed to H.R. 3633. The vote took place at 2:19 p.m. ET (18:19 UTC) and failed 49-50, with one senator not voting. The motion needed three-fifths support, or 60 votes. It was a procedural vote on whether to proceed with consideration of the bill, not a vote on final passage.

The Senate draft would put digital commodities chiefly under CFTC oversight and retain some SEC authority over initial sales of certain crypto assets. Sen. John Cornyn, who voted to advance the motion, said the next day, “I remain concerned about the bill’s impact on community banks and law enforcement activities.”