Coinbase Global stock was among the worst performers in the S&P 500 ahead of the open Thursday--and it's largely of its own doing.

The crypto exchange dramatically withdrew its support for the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act on the eve of a Senate Banking Committee hearing to discuss the legislation. The committee then postponed its meeting, leading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to slip back after a strong rally.

Coinbase was pointing 1.5% lower at $252.11 in premarket trading, after climbing 1.3% Wednesday.

But the company's intervention may end up being a positive thing for the stock--and the broader crypto ecosystem--in the long run.

CEO Brian Armstrong said the bill would be "materially worse than the status quo," in a post on X Wednesday. "We'd rather have no bill than a bad bill."

No bill looks unlikely. Senate Banking Committee chair Tim Scott described the postponement as a "brief pause," adding that "everyone remains at the table working in good faith."

Armstrong said there were "too many issues" with the legislation in its current form, including a de facto ban on tokenized equities, prohibitions on decentralized finance that give the government unlimited access to people's financial records. He added that the bill would "kill rewards on stablecoins," and erodes the authority of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

That's quite a lot and will require plenty of work from all parties--but Armstrong is upbeat. "I'm actually quite optimistic that we will get to the right outcome with continued effort," he added.

If he's right, expect cryptocurrencies to rally along with Coinbase and other stocks exposed to digital assets.