Bitcoin falls ahead of Senate Clarity Act cloture vote

Bitcoin fell toward $77,000 on Tuesday as the Senate prepared for a procedural vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, a bill that would split regulatory authority over cryptocurrencies between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The cryptocurrency touched $76,900 in early trading, a decline of roughly 1% measured against the previous day. It had traded above $79,000 on Monday. Prediction market Polymarket, as cited by Barron’s, put the chances of the bill becoming law this year at 19% on Tuesday, down from 31% on Monday.

Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest was a seller of crypto-linked equities on Monday, Barron’s reported. The firm’s funds exited positions in Bullish, Coinbase, Circle Internet Group, and Bitmine Immersion Technologies. Coinbase stock fell 4.5% in premarket trading on Tuesday after gaining 9% the prior session, while Strategy stock declined 3.7%.

The Senate vote is a cloture motion to open floor debate on the legislation. Republicans hold 53 seats, meaning the party needs at least seven Democrats or independents to reach the 60 votes required to advance the bill the updated legislative text would be offered as an amendment, Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Senator John Boozman of Arkansas, and Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina said in a statement

An additional headwind for Bitcoin came from energy markets. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed to around $103 a barrel Elevated energy costs tend to stoke inflation worries, adding to pressure on markets before the Federal Reserve’s expected rate move on Wednesday that would push the federal funds target range to 3.75%–4%

The vote comes after Senator Elizabeth Warren took to the Senate floor Monday night to attack the ethics provisions in the bill, arguing the language added to win Democratic support would not prevent President Donald Trump from profiting from his crypto ventures. Warren called the new ethics provision a “weak fig leaf,” which obtained her prepared remarks

Republican bill sponsors said the final text incorporates 126 substantive changes Democrats requested, including ethics language that covers the president, vice president, members of Congress, judges, and their spouses. “Democrats got what they wanted; now they need to take yes for an answer,” Senator Lummis said in a statement.

The Clarity Act has been years in the making. The Senate Banking Committee passed the bill by a 15-to-9 vote in May and Trump endorsed it on Sunday as Republicans published what they called the final text. Senator Lummis has warned that failure to pass the bill in this Congress could delay the legislation until 2030.

Source: finance.yahoo.com