By Alex Kozul-Wright
Coinbase Global and Robinhood Markets stocks were set to recover some lost ground Friday after plunging in the previous session and moving out of step with Bitcoin's recent rally.
Both stocks pointed higher ahead of the open. Coinbase shares rose 1.1% in premarket trading, after slumping 6.5% Thursday and Robinhood climbed 1.8% after a 7.8% drop.
The sharp falls were tied to concerns over delays of the much-anticipated Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, as well as increasing dissatisfaction within the crypto industry regarding the latest draft of the bill.
The act -- which aims to provide a defined regulatory structure for digital assets -- is a bipartisan measure that cleared the U.S. House of Representatives in July 2025.
It was expected to be considered by the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday.
But lingering uncertainty over some of the language in the legislation saw Coinbase pull its support for the bill altogether. Committee chair Tim Scott subsequently postponed the hearing.
For now, the delay hasn't had a huge impact on digital asset prices.
Bitcoin traded at $95,382 early Friday, down around 1.5% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinDesk data. It hit highs of $97,700 late Wednesday. Elsewhere, the second-biggest crypto Ethereum was down 1.9% to $3,305. Both assets are still up 5% and 7.5% this week, respectively.
Scott, the South Carolina Republican who leads the Senate Banking Committee, stated that "everyone remains at the table working in good faith," in a post on X, characterizing the delay as a "brief pause."
And despite acknowledging that Coinbase could not support the legislation in its current form, CEO Brian Armstrong said he's "actually quite optimistic that we will get to the right outcome with continued effort."
If he's right, Coinbase -- and other crypto-related stocks -- should make a swift recovery.
Write to Alex Kozul-Wright at alexander.kozul-wright@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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January 16, 2026 05:41 ET (10:41 GMT)
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