That strategy will become tricky. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has advocated for bundling the two bills together, arguing that only passing the stablecoin bill may hurt enthusiasm or leverage to get the so-called CLARITY Act passed, which stand to remove crypto tokens — and Coinbase's role in selling them — from regulatory crosshairs.

The legislation to set rules for stablecoin issuers is the first major digital assets bill to ever clear the Senate and now moves on to the U.S. House.