Bitcoin Slips as Support for Clarity Act Fades
The drop comes as the odds of U.S. approval for the Clarity Act weaken, while the Senate votes on the next procedural step. Ether and Solana were also under pressure.
Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin fell to $76,862 on Tuesday, 1.7% lower since midnight UTC and 6.6% below the $82,284 peak set on September 4.
- The odds of U.S. approval of the Clarity Act this year on Polymarket dropped from 34% to 17% after a Democratic counterproposal.
- Selling pressure was broad: 92 of the CoinDesk 100 components fell, while trading volume rose to $207 billion and open interest edged lower.
Bitcoin gave back some of Monday’s late rally on Tuesday and fell to $76,862 (€66,500), down 1.7% since midnight UTC. That puts the biggest crypto 6.6% below the $82,284 (€71,200) peak set on September 4. Ether fell 1.6% to $2,474.76 (€2,140) and Solana lost 2% to $100.43 (€87).
Clarity Act Loses Momentum
The pullback came alongside a sharply lower Polymarket estimate for U.S. approval of the Clarity Act this year. The odds fell from 34% on Monday to 17% after Democrats drafted a counterproposal, following the rejection of a revised version that Republican negotiators had circulated on Sunday. The main sticking point is the ethical rules around crypto holdings by officials, not the market structure itself.
The Senate will vote Tuesday at 2:15 p.m. ET on cloture, the procedure that makes a final vote possible. The CLARITY Act aims to create a clear framework for crypto in the U.S. and is mainly meant to define when the SEC or the CFTC has authority. The bill had already cleared an important step on May 14, when the Senate Banking Committee approved it 15 to 9, but progress then stalled because of debates over ethics and authority.
Market Reaction Is Broad
Selling pressure was visible across the board on Tuesday. Of the CoinDesk 100, 92 components were lower and the index itself fell 1.6%. The tone was also weaker in the derivatives market. Open interest slipped slightly to $135 billion (€117 billion), while trading volume jumped 54% to $207 billion (€179 billion), suggesting that existing positions are being unwound faster than new ones are being opened.
In Bitcoin, futures trading pointed to taker selling, while open interest stayed below 680,000 BTC. Open interest also fell for Ether, Solana and XRP. For Solana, it recently stood at 58.81 million tokens, the lowest level since May. At the same time, funding rates for most major tokens remained slightly positive, although Ether and SOL were a bit weaker.
Why This Matters for Europe
For European crypto watchers, this mood matters because the U.S. still plays a major role in price action and in crypto rules. If the Senate gets through the procedural step, it could move the debate over oversight and market structure forward. If not, a clearer U.S. framework may get pushed back again until after the midterm elections in November.
