In this week’s edition of the weekly recap, a withdrawal of nearly 4,000 BTC forced Liquid Network to suspend transactions before operators began a limited restart. The U.S. CLARITY Act faced fresh doubts ahead of a Sep. 15 Senate vote,…
The Treasury Secretary wants it passed. The President worked senators in person. Coinbase's CEO says it is happening. Galaxy has it at 10%, down from 75% in May, and the prediction markets agree with Galaxy. One of those groups is wrong and we find out Tuesday.
A new draft of the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act has dropped with amendments.
As first reported by Eleanor Terrett from Crypto in America and Punchbowl’s Brendan Pedersen, the updated bill contains changes including requiring non-decentralized DeFi protocols to register with the CFTC, and changes around how credit unions deal in crypto, according to reporters.
The specifics include that a decentralized finance app fails the test of being such a protocol test if someone can control or materially alter its functionality, if it doesn’t run solely on pre-established transparent encoded rules, or if someone can restrict or censor its use.
It also adds that a federal credit union may use a digital asset or distributed ledger system to perform, provide, or deliver any activity, function, product, or service it is otherwise authorized by law to perform.
JUST IN: An updated version of the Clarity Act has released ahead of next week's floor vote
"Latest changes include new DeFi requirements and credit union fix" — Punchbowl News
Lawmakers were hoping a crucial vote on the crypto market structure bill would go ahead in August before their five-week recess. It was delayed and the Senate will now vote on it on September 15.
The bill is not bipartisan yet, according to the reporters. Senate Republicans started circulating the updated legislation on Thursday.
The Clarity Act drafts a framework to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities or stablecoins. Crypto industry executives have long called for such rules to be in place.
Though passed by the House of Representatives last July, it has been stalled this year, mostly because the banking lobby clashed with crypto companies over paying customers stablecoin yield.
A new draft tackling the issue of ethics started circulating in July, banning government officials from promoting or making money from crypto — something Democrats have criticized the Trump family for doing.
Despite the changes, a group of Democrats said the bill fell short and demanded amendments to the bill.
Pro-crypto lawmakers have blasted Democratic politicians who they think are deliberately holding back the bill.
President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers to get the legislation over the line. In August, he said that in order for the U.S. to remain the “undisputed leader in Bitcoin and crypto,” they had to pass the “very, very powerful legislation.”
The CLARITY Act has encountered a new Senate dispute over vertical integration rules ahead of its Sep. 15 cloture vote, which requires 60 votes to advance the crypto market structure bill. CLARITY Act negotiations focus on vertical integration Politico reported…
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said that bitcoin’s bottom is in and reiterated that the coin will hit $400,000 by 2030.
Speaking on CNBC Thursday, the head of America’s biggest crypto exchange said that he was confident the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act would pass next week.
Bitcoin was trading sluggishly throughout June and July but started surging in August, spurred on by positive regulatory news. Over a 30-day period, the largest cryptocurrency is currently up over 20%.
JUST IN: Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tells CNBC the Bitcoin "bottom is in" and BTC hitting $400,000 by 2030 is a "reasonable target" pic.twitter.com/RYfipYCNDk
“[$400,000] is a reasonable target by 2030, and if you follow crypto, you know it typically goes through these four-year-ish cycles: there’ll be a run-up, some euphoria, there’ll be a down period,” Armstrong said.
“Most of the down periods last about a year, and we’ve actually just come across the one-year mark for this down period, so I personally believe that the bottom is in.”
Bitcoin was recently trading for close to $77,318 per coin. It hit a new all-time high of $126,080 in October.
Market observers have been paying attention to the long-awaited Clarity Act this year. The bill drafts a framework to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities or stablecoins. The crypto industry has long called for such rules to be in place.
Senators will vote on the long-awaited legislation next week after an August delay.
U.S. President Trump helped spur a surge in the bitcoin price when he hosted crypto executives and traditional finance bigwigs at the White House and urged lawmakers to move forward with the bill.
Armstrong said on Thursday that he was confident the bill would get through — and help unlock new capital as a result.
“We saw with the Genius Act that passed last year for stablecoins: in the wake of that legislation passing, we saw well over 150 large companies integrate stablecoins within just a three-month period,” he said.
“And I think something similar could happen with the Clarity Act passing — it’s a regulatory checkbox, it’d be a big milestone certainly to unlock institutional capital and to bring things like tokenized equities and perks to the United States, which would be very good.”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has urged senators to advance the CLARITY Act as lawmakers prepare to return from their August recess for a procedural vote that will test whether the crypto market structure bill has enough support to move…
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said the U.S. crypto industry could get clearer federal rules regardless of whether the CLARITY Act clears its key Senate test on Sept. 15. CNBC reported Wednesday that Armstrong expects either Congress or federal regulators…
Ripple Chief Legal Officer Stuart Alderoty has urged undecided and opposing senators to hear from an estimated 67 million American crypto holders before the CLARITY Act faces a 60-vote procedural test on Sep. 15. Alderoty asks senators to meet crypto…
Currently, market attention is gradually shifting toward the countdown to the procedural vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (CLARITY Act) on September 15. Against the backdrop of unclear regulatory expectations, XRP has recently performed relatively weakly. At the…
The Clarity Act has faced a new threat ahead of its Sept. 15 procedural vote, with Republican senators warning that the measure may lack the 60 votes needed to advance. Clarity Act faces a difficult Senate vote Semafor reported on…
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis has again slammed Democrats over the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act.
Writing on X on Tuesday, the pro-crypto lawmaker responded to an article from Semafor that reported Republican senators saying the bill was likely to fail when the senate returns next week.
Lawmakers were hoping a crucial vote on the long-awaited crypto market structure bill would go ahead in August before their five-week recess. But it was delayed and the Senate will now vote on it next week.
JUST IN: U.S. Senate will hold a procedural cloture vote on the Clarity Act one week from today.
Senator Cynthia Lummis says if they fail to pass it next week, "we will not get another realistic shot at this before the end of the decade"
“If this bill fails it won’t be because of ethics, it will be because Democrats didn’t join Republicans in embracing a bipartisan bill that protected consumers, cements America’s leadership in digital assets, and empowered law enforcement to clamp down on illicit finance,” wrote Lummis.
She said that Democrats were continuing to “demand changes” that could allow future regulators to “kill the crypto industry.”
“If we can bridge those gaps I’m confident we can pass Clarity, but they require further compromise from Democrats, not the White House,” added Lummis.
Lummis previously said that if the Clarity Act dies, it will be because of the Democrats. Lummis and other pro-crypto lawmakers have blasted politicians who they think are deliberately holding back the bill.
The Clarity Act drafts a framework to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities or stablecoins.
Though passed by the House of Representatives last July, it has been stalled this year, mostly because the banking lobby clashed with crypto companies over paying customers stablecoin yield.
A new draft tackling the issue of ethics started circulating in July, banning government officials from promoting or making money from crypto — something Democrats have criticized the Trump family for doing.
Despite the changes, a group of Democrats said the bill fell short and wanted amendments.
President Donald Trump has urged lawmakers to get the legislation over the line. In August, he said that in order for the U.S. to remain the “undisputed leader in Bitcoin and crypto,” they had to pass the “very, very powerful legislation.”
The House killed eight voting days, Polymarket odds crashed from 82% to 16%, and the ethics clause nobody can agree on may bury the most important crypto bill in a generation. The CLARITY Act was supposed to be the easy…
The CLARITY Act has moved closer to defeat ahead of its Sept. 15 Senate vote as lawmakers remain divided over presidential ethics rules and stablecoin rewards. CLARITY Act ethics talks remain stalled Semafor reported on Sept. 8 that Republican senators…
The cloture vote, the CPI print, the FOMC decision, and the SEC’s 24-hour trading roundtable all fall in the same 10-day window. The outcome will shape crypto regulation for the rest of the decade. The United States Senate has 14…
The National Sheriffs’ Association this week dropped its opposition to the crypto Clarity Act, after having previously warned that the proposed bill could help criminals.
Writing Thursday to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, the association said it was changing its stance to neutral given how complex the issue is.
A number of lawmakers were hoping to vote on the Clarity Act in August. After a delay, a vote will now go ahead this month. The bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or payment stablecoins — legislation that the crypto industry has long called for.
“Given the complexity of the legislation and the number of important details that remain under consideration, the NSA is changing its position on the Clarity Act to neutral,” the letter from NSA President Sheriff Troy Wellman and Executive Director Justin Smith read.
JUST IN: Major U.S. law enforcement organization National Sheriffs’ Association no longer opposes The Clarity Act
“We believe the most appropriate course is to step back and allow the legislative process to proceed to establish a…much needed regulatory framework.” pic.twitter.com/NBpKlrUsUj
“At this time, we believe the most appropriate course is to step back and allow the legislative process to proceed to establish a clear, effective, and much needed regulatory framework.”
The NSA had previously warned that the bill could create regulatory and anti-money laundering loopholes by exempting certain crypto developers and infrastructure providers from money transmitter rules.
Despite being passed in the house of representatives last year with strong bipartisan support, the Clarity Act has been in a deadlock for much of 2026. The banking lobby raised concerns over stablecoin yield and some lawmakers have said improvements need to be made surrounding ethics.
An updated bill of the Clarity Act was introduced in July that addressed some of these concerns — banning government officials and their families from issuing or promoting crypto.
Pro-crypto senator Cynthia Lummis wrote on Friday that the “bipartisan bill” gives “law enforcement real tools to fight the illicit finance crimes hurting hard working Americans.”
Major financial institutions, lawmakers and companies have said they support the latest draft of the new bill, but some Republicans have accused Democratic lawmakers of deliberately playing politics and holding the bill back.
U.S. congressman French Hill expressed the importance of bipartisan support to get the long-awaited crypto market structure bill, the Clarity Act, over the line before the midterms.
The lawmaker told Fox Business Thursday that Democrats and Republicans have come to “narrow their differences in getting the bill drafted.
Pro-crypto lawmakers were hoping the Clarity Act passed before Congress departed for August recess. After a delay, a vote will now go ahead on September 15.
WATCH: Chairman @RepFrenchHill on the importance of passing the Clarity Act:
"…we passed the CLARITY Act in the House last summer with 78 Democratic votes. It is time for the Senate to join us and pass the CLARITY Act. Members on both sides of the aisle in the Senate have… pic.twitter.com/GMva1XOTDK
“Can Democrats work with Republicans and make sure America leads the world in distributed ledger technology and financial services?” Hill said.
“This one remaining significant issue is the ethics provision, and that is best solved by passing the legislation because everybody — no matter what family they belong to, the Trumps or not — would then be under a regulatory framework fully scrutinized by the United States government in commodity and securities and banking regulators,” he added.
The Clarity Act was first introduced by Hill, the House Financial Services Chairman, last year.
Crypto companies have long called for clear regulations for the industry. The Clarity Act drafts a framework to formally divide oversight between regulators, distinguishing which digital assets are securities, commodities or stablecoins.
The House of Representatives passed the bill last July but it has been stalled this year, mostly because the banking lobby clashed with crypto companies over paying customers stablecoin yield.
A new draft tackling the issue of ethics started circulating in July. It bans government officials from promoting or making money from crypto — something Democrats have criticized the Trump family for doing.
A group of Democrats said the bill fell short and wanted amendments. Some were accused of deliberately holding it back by Republicans like Cynthia Lummis.
Some have praised the bipartisan work that has already gone into the bill, namely Coinbase, America’s biggest crypto exchange. The company’s Chief Policy Officer, Faryar Shirzad, said in July that while some Democratic lawmakers were holding back the long-awaited legislation, younger Democrats wanted to pass it.
President Donald Trump in August said that in order for the U.S. to remain the “undisputed leader in Bitcoin and crypto,” lawmakers had to pass the “very, very powerful legislation.”
Wall Street’s top regulator has said that he expects the long-awaited Clarity Act will get passed this month and the U.S. will be on track to be the “crypto capital of the world.”
Speaking to Fox Business on Tuesday, Securities and Exchange Chairman Paul Atkins confirmed that the regulator was pushing ahead with rules to help the crypto industry.
Pro-crypto lawmakers had hoped to pass the Clarity Act before Congress broke for August recess, but the vote slipped to September. The bill will establish a framework for distinguishing between digital assets that are securities, commodities or stablecoins.
JUST IN: SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says "The Regulation Crypto Assets proposal is our most historic step yet to cement America as the Crypto Capital of the World" pic.twitter.com/lcHtWcslgO
“The Clarity Act will be voted on in the Senate on the 15th of September,” Atkins said. “I anticipate and hope that it will be passed by the Senate and sent ultimately to the President’s desk for a signature.”
He added: “We’re changing the past approaches to try to update [rules], modernize them in the age of blockchain and crypto assets.”
Despite a vote on the Clarity Act being delayed, regulators like the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission have said they will still proceed with trying to shape crypto policy.
Last week, the SEC sent a proposal to the White House aiming to “clarify the framework for the custody of crypto assets” for investment advisers and companies.
Despite being passed by the House of Representatives last year, the Clarity Act has been in a deadlock for most of this year after the banking lobby clashed with lawmakers and crypto businesses over whether platforms like Coinbase should be able to pay customers yield.
Some lawmakers have sought to change wording in the bill regarding ethics, and a new bill started circulating in July. The draft bans government officials from promoting and making money from crypto.
But other Democratic lawmakers said it still fell short; a number of pro-crypto Republicans accused Democrats of deliberately playing politics and delaying the bill.
Bitcoin is known for its summer slumps. But August was different.
In fact, the leading cryptocurrency had its third best August ever.
As highlighted on Tuesday by Bitwise’s European Head of Research, André Dragosch, bitcoin delivered returns of 25% last month.
“No ‘summer lull’ so far,” Dragosch wrote on X, highlighting that the only better Augusts the coin has had were in 2017 when it gave investors returns of nearly 66%, and 2013, with close to 31%.
OFFICIAL: August 2026 is in the books and it's been the 3rd best August in bitcoin's history.
August 2017: +65.6% August 2013: +30.7% August 2026: +25.0%
Multiple analyses point to the months of June-September showing weaker average returns than the rest of the year.
Throughout most of June and July, bitcoin’s volatility was particularly muted, and the coin traded below $65,000.
But that changed in mid-August after the U.S. Treasury Department said it would more than double the size of its government debt repurchases due to fixed income markets under pressure and yields surging to levels not seen in nearly 20 years.
Lower long-term yields reduce the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding assets like bitcoin and gold, and generally support risk-on sentiment.
Investors flooded into bitcoin as a result.
Positive news soon followed, with President Donald Trump urging lawmakers to get the long-awaited crypto Clarity Act over the line. The digital asset industry has long called for clear rules on how regulators should treat bitcoin, stablecoins and other cryptocurrencies.
Despite a delay in a vote on the legislation, Trump called the draft “very powerful.” The president made the comments after having met with crypto industry bigwigs and CEOs.
Investors also rushed back into ETFs in August, throwing over $2.8 billion at the vehicles — the most since October, when the coin hit a new all-time high.
Bitcoin in August had its best run in three years — and is up nearly over 20% over the past month.
The asset reached as high as $81,281 last week before sliding again on Friday.
Bitcoin’s price recently stood at $76,883, nearly down 3% over a 24-hour period.
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