US lawmakers delayed the CLARITY Act again after a public fight broke out over who should control stablecoin rewards, according to industry sources. Crypto prices stayed calm, but behind the scenes, rewards on digital dollars have become the main pressure point for exchanges and banks. The bigger issue is how Washington wants crypto dollars to work in daily life, whether they should behave more like money in a savings account or just another piece of software. For regular users, this debate hits close t ...

The cryptocurrency market wavered Friday as trading volumes cooled, with Bitcoin and Ethereum drifting downward despite positive momentum earlier this week. Following Bitcoin’s jump to $94,600 on Wednesday, the leading digital asset by market capitalization changed hands around $95,300, a 4.6% increase over the past seven days, according to crypto price aggregator CoinGecko. Ethereum has risen 5.9% to $3,250 over the same period of time. Trading volumes for Bitcoin and Ethereum had meanwhile fallen 27% ...

Core Insights - Bitcoin has experienced significant price weakness due to a combination of factors including risk-off investor sentiment, a hawkish Federal Reserve, stalled regulatory efforts, reduced institutional interest, and profit-taking by long-term holders [1][2][4] Market Performance - Bitcoin's price has dropped from $126,000 to below $82,200 since early October, with a slight rebound to nearly $88,500 recently [2] - The total cryptocurrency market capitalization has decreased by approximately 24%, equating to a loss of $1 trillion since its peak in October [3] Key Factors Influencing Bitcoin's Decline - **Declining Risk Appetite**: Bitcoin's decline mirrors that of tech stocks and other risk assets, influenced by macroeconomic concerns and fears regarding overvalued AI companies [4] - **Federal Reserve's Stance**: The performance of Bitcoin is negatively impacted by the Fed's mixed signals regarding interest rate cuts, as Bitcoin typically thrives in low interest rate environments [4] - **Regulatory Stagnation**: The stalled progress of the CLARITY Act, following the earlier success of the GENIUS Act, may hinder crypto adoption [4] - **Institutional Withdrawal**: Following a record liquidation day, institutional investors have been retreating from the crypto market, leading to decreased liquidity and challenges in price recovery [4] - **Profit-Taking by Holders**: Long-term holders have sold approximately 800,000 BTC in the past month, marking the largest sell-off since January 2024 [4]

Legislative Update - The CLARITY Act passed Congress with a significant bipartisan majority [1] - The next step for the CLARITY Act is consideration in the Senate [1]

🇺🇸 BREAKING: The House of Representatives have just passed the CLARITY Act. ...

🚨 NEW: Senator Warren says the CLARITY Act could blow up the value of the NYSE. https://t.co/wqhxSwaF75 ...

RT Sander Lutz (@s_lutz95)🚨NEW: DeFi leaders are coming out swinging against the CLARITY Act, saying the bill would “continue the trend of forcing DeFi developers overseas." Top DeFi stakeholders tell me they’ve held their tongue about the bill for months, but now feel they have no choice but to go public with their concerns, given a final House vote is coming as soon as tomorrow.Elements of how the bill treats DeFi are “really problematic” and “impossible” for software developers to comply with, one DeFi p ...