Americans for Financial Reform

Report Category: Policy & Analysis

Fact Sheet: Curbing Stock Buybacks Would Strengthen the Economy

Curbing stock buybacks would push companies to invest in their workers, productive capacity, and innovation. Stock buybacks are when a company purchases its own shares, resulting in fewer outstanding shares, an artificially higher share price, and higher executive pay.

The Crypto Oligarchs

A handful of crypto billionaires with extreme anti-democratic views stand to profit immensely from passage of the CLARITY Act – the massive deregulatory crypto bill poised for a Senate floor vote this year. The CLARITY Act was drafted largely by and for the crypto industry and its leaders. They and the President are doing everything they can to make it become law.

Profile of Crypto Billionaire Brian Armstrong—Coinbase CEO

Brian Armstrong is the CEO of Coinbase and one of the most wealthy and influential voices in the industry. Armstrong is at the forefront of crypto industry figures pushing to lock in weak rules that allow crypto firms to maximize insider profits without safeguards for consumers, investors, or financial stability that families and ‘real economy’ businesses need. Armstrong has deep ties to Trump and his policy demands for the CLARITY Act have been echoed by the White House and Senate Republicans.

Profile of Crypto Billionaire Marc Andreessen—Co-founder Andreessen Horowitz (a16z)

Andreessen is at the forefront of crypto industry figures pushing to lock in weak rules that allow crypto firms to maximize insider profits without safeguards for consumers, investors, or financial stability that families and “real economy” businesses need. Andreessen has deep ties to Trump and his policy demands for the CLARITY Act have been echoed by the White House and Senate Republicans.

Timeline of attacks against the CFPB

The CFPB is under attack. Since the first weeks of the current administration, the Trump-appointed CFPB leadership and Republicans in Congress have worked to carry out the Project 2025 goal of dismantling the Bureau. While these efforts have been blocked in court, the Trump-Vought CFPB has continued to chip away at the agency’s staff, roll