The BTC/USD price chart is unlikely to please investors today. What we see on the chart may, however, be only the calm before the storm.
Bitcoin looks to Congress and the White House
The cryptocurrency market seems to enjoy giving investors extreme emotions. A few days ago it seemed that digital assets were starting a new wave of strong gains, but since yesterday Bitcoin, Ether and other tokens have been clearly weakening.
The reason is the continued uncertainty surrounding what is happening in the Middle East. The ceasefire hangs in the balance: as Fox News reported, the U.S. army carried out attacks on targets in southern Iran, including Bandar Abbas and the Iranian Port Qeshm. The Iranian side claims that the U.S. military attacked an Iranian oil tanker that was in the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran itself had to attack three U.S. destroyers. Interestingly, Donald Trump stated that the ceasefire with Iran remains in effect.
This does not favor growth in the risky asset market. However, not everything is lost. CLARITY Act is currently being analyzed by congressmen and the banking and crypto lobby. Many indications suggest that the bill could enjoy bipartisan support.
The law ultimately aims to answer the question of which part of the industry will be overseen by the SEC and which by the CFTC. As a result, large investors may receive a clear signal on how to navigate the crypto market, which should strengthen the industry and increase demand for Bitcoin and Ether, especially within institutional circles.
CLARITY Act could be passed by the U.S. Senate Banking Committee as early as next week, says Kary Calvert, Vice President for Policy at the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. As she said at the Consensus 2026 conference in Miami, Florida, for the bill to be passed by the entire upper chamber it must be approved by at least 60 senators.
“This means we need [support] from Democrats. A bipartisan bill is required and we have worked hard to ensure bipartisan support remains. I think the most important question is: how will these votes play out in the next few days?” she pondered publicly.
Politicians themselves are already under pressure. A study by HarrisX showed that 70% of voters believe the United States should have clear regulations on cryptocurrencies, and 62% think it is important for their country to establish global rules on digital finance.
Recall that the CLARITY bill stalled in the Senate after Coinbase withdrew its support for regulation in January. The company cited a number of concerns, including lack of legal protection for open‑source software developers, a ban on earning profits from holding stablecoins, and lack of clear rules governing the decentralized finance (DeFi) market.
According to Calvert, many institutions today want to buy and hold cryptocurrencies, but tax compliance and reporting requirements make it difficult, stemming from current regulations. In practice, this means the U.S. Treasury (IRS) forces crypto exchanges to document every crypto transaction using 1099‑DA forms.
“We send millions of 1099‑DA forms for transactions worth, for example, 1 USD – it makes no sense,” Calvert said.
She pointed to a tax reform bill that could change this odd state of affairs. It is the Digital Asset PARITY Act, introduced into the legislative process by congressmen Max Miller and Steven Horsford.
If the U.S. passes legal changes, cryptocurrencies could receive a boost. At the same time, experts warn that the market could see another sharp decline. Prof. Krzysztof Piech believes that “the bear market is not over yet, and the hardest phase may just be coming.” In his view, this would mean a drop even to around 40,000 USD.
We wrote more about this in the article: Bitcoin price fails the test. Soon a drop to 40k USD? Prof. Krzysztof Piech: “The bear market is not over yet, and the hardest phase may just be coming.”
See also: Bitcoin price fell 50% from ATH. Expert warns. “The real gamechanger” could change BTC/USD direction?
Bitcoin price heads south
Bitcoin has, for now, fallen below 80,000 USD. Today, 1 BTC costs 79,760 USD on the exchange, a decline of just over 0.5% for the day.
Chart. Bitcoin price (BTC/USD)
Source: Trading Economics
Ethereum price fell to 2,275 USD. This means a daily correction of 0.6%. Earlier, Ether again could not break above 2,400 USD.
Chart. Ethereum price (ETH/USD)
Source: Trading Economics.
See also: Bitcoin price could crash to 25k USD? Expert: “Bitcoin could dive even to around 45k USD.” What next for ETH?
Source: Cointelegraph
