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U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis said the CLARITY Act’s ethics provisions and anti-money laundering-related language could be revised after further discussions. According to CoinDesk, Lummis said the release of a consolidated draft marked important progress toward passage and that the plan is to reflect input from the industry and other stakeholders. Lummis added a proposal allowing state attorneys general to file criminal and civil suits over violations of ethics provisions had been a red line that Republicans and the White House could not accept. New additions include provisions addressing crypto ATM fraud and safe-harbor language allowing the freezing of assets tied to suspicious transactions. U.S. Republicans announced a revised CLARITY Act draft today.

Fairshake, a Super PAC backed by the U.S. crypto industry, spent about $1 million in Michigan’s Democratic primary, Cointelegraph reported. The PAC ran ads supporting incumbent Rep. Shri Thanedar and criticizing challenger Donavan McKinney. Thanedar voted in favor of major crypto bills in the House, including the CLARITY Act and the GENIUS Act.

Key Democratic negotiators in the U.S. Senate said the latest draft of the Clarity Act released by Republicans needs revisions, according to CoinDesk. In a joint statement, senators including Angela Alsobrooks and Cory Booker said the draft falls short on key provisions covering ethics and consumer protection, and argued it should be strengthened on anti-money laundering, conflict-of-interest safeguards and market integrity. They also said they will continue negotiations with Republicans to advance the bill. Because the Clarity Act needs 60 votes to pass the Senate, Democratic support is essential. Republicans earlier that day released a revised version of the bill that included a ban preventing federal officials, including President Donald Trump, from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies.

Former U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chairman Christopher Giancarlo sees the CLARITY bill as having less than a 50% chance of passing, Crypto in America host Eleanor Terrett said on X. Giancarlo added that even if the bill does not pass, cryptocurrency innovation will continue under the regulatory framework now being put in place by the U.S. SEC and CFTC, and that even a future administration hostile to crypto would not easily reverse the institutional progress made over the next two years.

Louisiana’s public employees retirement system, which manages $16.3 billion in assets, increased its holdings in Strategy (MSTR) to 21,300 shares, U.Today reported. The stake is currently valued at about $2.13 million, indicating increased indirect exposure to BTC through Strategy, the world’s largest corporate Bitcoin holder.

The U.S. House has passed a bill banning insider trading by members of Congress, Cointelegraph reported. The bill would restrict federal lawmakers from trading stocks and other assets using nonpublic information obtained in the course of their official duties.

Tesla did not sell any Bitcoin in the second quarter, according to the WatcherGuru X account. Tesla continues to hold 11,509 BTC, currently worth about $825 million. The company said when it reported second-quarter earnings in 2022 that it had liquidated $936 million worth of BTC, and it has maintained the same holdings for about four years since then.

The three major U.S. stock indices closed lower today. - S&P 500: -0.14% - Nasdaq: -0.57% - Dow Jones: -0.01%

Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the U.S., said the Clarity bill is ready for a full vote on the Senate floor. Armstrong said the bill represents a bipartisan compromise shaped by thousands of hours of work from both parties. He added there is no better time to pass it, arguing the lack of clear federal regulation in the U.S. has allowed bad actors such as FTX to harm Americans while forcing many parts of the industry to move entirely offshore beyond U.S. jurisdiction. Armstrong said the Clarity bill would now create a path for the U.S. to lead the cryptocurrency industry and stressed that 70% of U.S. voters want the bill passed.

U.S. Senate Republican Leader John Thune plans to push for a Senate vote on the CLARITY Act as early as next week, Bloomberg reported. Bloomberg added that the bill would need support from at least seven Democratic senators to pass the chamber. The outlet said an ethics provision recently agreed with the White House has become the biggest sticking point in bipartisan talks, with even crypto-friendly Democrats opposing language that would give the Trump administration's DOJ authority to enforce crypto ethics rules.

Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan said the next cryptocurrency bull market is likely to be driven by trends such as stablecoins, tokenization, 24-hour trading, instant settlement and institutional DeFi. Hougan said it was still too early to declare the market fully recovered, but improving investor sentiment, positive ETF inflows and Bitcoin’s recent performance were prompting investors to ask what could lead the next cycle. Hougan added blockchain technology is expected to be applied more deeply across traditional finance, and investors should watch Hyperliquid-style crypto protocols such as HYPE and companies like Robinhood, or HOOD.

According to CME FedWatch, the probability that the Federal Reserve will raise its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points at the July Federal Open Market Committee meeting stands at 31.5%, while the probability of holding rates steady is 68.5%.

Polymarket shows the probability of the CLARITY Act passing and being signed into law in 2026 has fallen to 37%, after U.S. Republicans unveiled a revised version of the bill that includes a ban on public officials, including the president, issuing cryptocurrencies.

The ethics provisions in the revised Clarity Act, a U.S. cryptocurrency regulatory bill agreed by Republicans and the White House, are as follows: - The president, vice president, members of Congress, federal judges and other public officials, including their spouses, would be barred through Jan. 20, 2029, from receiving compensation to issue or sponsor digital assets while in office. - Public officials would be required to sell their cryptocurrency holdings and equity stakes in crypto companies, place them in a blind trust they do not control, or take both steps. - The measure would grant the U.S. Department of Justice civil enforcement authority over ethics-rule violations. That would include the authority to sue exchanges that intentionally list prohibited tokens. - It would require disclosure of crypto sales by public officials exceeding $1,000 and direct the U.S. Government Accountability Office to conduct a study reviewing additional loopholes in the ethics rules.

The U.S. cryptocurrency industry directly employs 34,000 people and is expected to contribute more than $55 billion to U.S. GDP in 2026, The Block reported, citing a report from the National Cryptocurrency Association. Of that total, about $31 billion is estimated to accrue as worker wages and income. The report said the 34,000 direct jobs include 10,100 in software, blockchain and data engineering; 5,450 in compliance, finance and business operations; and 5,100 in executive and management roles. Citing U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the report added the crypto industry is larger in employment terms than coffee and tea manufacturing, which directly employs 28,400 people, and cement manufacturing, which employs 15,300. By region, California had the most jobs at 57,600, followed by New York with 53,700, Texas with 26,500 and Washington state with 15,000.

A proposed amendment to the Clarity Act, a U.S. crypto-regulation bill under Senate review, is expected to include a provision barring federal public officials, including President Donald Trump, from issuing or sponsoring cryptocurrencies, CNBC reported. Republicans released the amendment on July 22, according to the report. The bill is seen as the first major U.S. legislation to comprehensively regulate digital assets. An amendment obtained by CNBC also includes a provision restricting the president from profiting from cryptocurrencies. CoinNess had earlier reported that the White House and Republican lawmakers had reached agreement on the bill's ethics provisions.

Grayscale Head of Research Zach Pandl said Bitcoin may have already passed its bottom if the Federal Reserve does not deliver additional rate hikes and economic growth remains solid. In a report published today titled 'Bitcoin: 4-year cycle or macro asset?', Pandl said market participants generally hold two views on Bitcoin’s bear market: the “four-year cycle” theory and the view that Bitcoin is a macro asset affected by changes in the broader economic environment. Under the four-year cycle view, Bitcoin could face further downside, with its average cumulative drawdown at around 80% and a bottom potentially forming in September or October. Grayscale, however, sees Bitcoin as a more mature asset that is now influenced by macroeconomic conditions like most major assets. From that perspective, Pandl said Bitcoin may have already bottomed if the Fed refrains from further rate hikes and the economy keeps growing.

Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said Bitcoin is likely to rebound if early holders, or OGs, refrain from selling. In a post on X, Balchunas said OGs had weighed on Bitcoin’s price gains over the past nine months, while BTC has risen 8% since July 4 and has outperformed other major assets. He added that spot ETFs saw $750 million in net inflows over the past week. Balchunas said it is hard to believe this rally is a "real rebound," but also hard to imagine Bitcoin never rebounding at some point, adding that the market will ultimately need to wait and see.

The UK government’s tokenized gilt project is unlikely to gain traction without expanded on-chain settlement infrastructure, CoinDesk reported. According to the outlet, industry experts agree the success of the UK tokenized gilt market depends on resolving on-chain cash settlement issues. CoinDesk said institutional adoption of digital bonds has remained stagnant over the past seven years because of a lack of on-chain cash settlement infrastructure. In other words, the project will require a standardized on-chain settlement method, a pound sterling-pegged stablecoin, and a clear regulatory framework to succeed, while pilot programs alone are unlikely to create an actual capital market.

Ethereum validator withdrawal queue has fallen to zero, meaning staked ETH can now be unstaked without any additional delay beyond the protocol’s minimum processing time, Wu Blockchain reported. The withdrawal queue had reached 2.6 million ETH in September last year, but has now been fully cleared. By contrast, about 2.48 million ETH is waiting to be newly staked, with the estimated queue time standing at around 43 days.

Violent crimes including robbery and kidnapping aimed at forcing victims to transfer cryptocurrency or stealing their holdings have surged this year, Bloomberg reported. In a recent report, blockchain security firm CertiK said it identified 52 physical attacks worldwide targeting holders of digital assets, or cryptocurrencies, in the first half of this year, up 33% from a year earlier. Total losses and ransom demands reached $124 million, with France accounting for the most cases at 33. CertiK added that home-invasion robberies rose sharply, as criminals increasingly see physical intimidation as a way to generate larger proceeds, reshaping the economics of such crimes.

Bitcoin faces a major resistance zone near $68,000, where a heavy supply cluster has formed, and the area could act as a key test for the asset’s next directional move, The Block reported. In related analysis, U.S.-based crypto exchange Bitfinex said buyers’ average entry price over the past five months has been concentrated near $68,000. Bitfinex said this means many buyers currently sitting on losses would return to break-even in that range, and historically short-term buyers have often opted to exit at break-even under those conditions. As a result, strong selling pressure could be triggered around $68,000, Bitfinex said.

Ethereum posted the largest increase in tokenized ETF market capitalization among major blockchains over the past year, with ETH-based products rising by $327 million, according to Token Terminal. Solana and BNB Chain saw increases of $83 million and $62 million, respectively, while Arbitrum was the only network to post a decline, down $29 million. Unfolded said the trend is a positive sign of expanding institutional inflows into the Ethereum ecosystem, while adding that the inflows do not necessarily translate into future growth in total value locked or a rise in ETH prices.

The Financial Action Task Force said in a report that most decentralized finance, or DeFi, platforms are decentralized in name only and are actually controlled by specific entities, making them subject to FATF regulation. In its July 21 report, “Call for Action to Address New Risks Emerging from DeFi,” the FATF said national regulators should identify those controlling parties and regulate them as virtual asset service providers, or VASPs. It added that, as a last resort, authorities could consider banning platforms from operating in their jurisdictions if they do not cooperate with regulation. The report also identified several major centralized features in DeFi, including concentrated governance token ownership, admin privileges, protocol upgrade authority, and fee and reward structures that accrue to insiders.

U.S. SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce said simply depositing crypto assets on-chain does not automatically place related activity outside the scope of federal securities laws. Peirce said crypto vault and lending strategies that use smart contracts to allocate assets on-chain and generate yield could qualify as ordinary businesses, investment companies or securitized debt if specific individuals or teams determine parameters such as staking, lending allocations, interest rates, eligible assets, loan-to-value ratios and liquidation thresholds. Peirce added, "업계 관계자들이 SEC와 규제 준수 방안을 논의하고 볼트 및 온체인 대출을 수용할 수 있도록 기존 규정을 어떻게 수정할수 있을지에 대한 의견을 환영한다".