Bitcoin Dips as Clarity Act Stalls Over Trump’s Crypto Interest
Bitcoin (BTC) price fell to $76,998.51 as the Clarity Act stalled amid the US President Donald Trump’s crypto-holding limit. The world’s largest digital asset price has reached $79k, but the attempt to cross the resistance was rejected.
Trading volume picked up 120% on the day to $40 billion. The CLARITY Act, a flagship market structure and stablecoin bill, has been held up in the Senate Banking Committee since January, following initial fights over yield-bearing stablecoins.
The main obstacle is now the ethics language that would restrict how Trump and other executive-branch officials can own or profit from crypto, specifically targeting the Trump family’s crypto businesses, which critics estimate are worth over $1 billion.
Democrats have said there will be “no final bill” without a deal on these ethics provisions, while Republicans are split on how far such limits should go, and whether they unfairly single out Trump.
Republican Senator Thom Tillis has now also threatened to oppose the bill unless conflict of interest rules are added, increasing the pressure around ethics provisions that would hit Trump family crypto interests.
The standoff is no longer just banks versus crypto; it is now wrapped up in personal conflict of interest rules for Trump himself, which makes compromise harder.
Senate Banking had informally targeted late April, then early May, for a markup, but that has slipped, and an April deadline has already been missed in prediction and research notes that put the odds of 2026 passage around 50 per cent.
Galaxy Digital’s research head has framed the probability of passage this year as “roughly 50 50,” with prediction markets recently nearer the mid 40 percent range.
Negotiations are reportedly exploring how to draft conflict of interest rules that apply to all senior officials, not only Trump, without delaying implementation until after the current term, a delay that both Tillis and Democrats have rejected. If there is no breakthrough before the summer and campaign season intensifies, the bill could effectively be pushed out for years.
In reaction, investors exited positions. The decline in BTC is closely tracking a 1.7% drop in the total crypto market cap, primarily driven by a cascade of long position liquidations in derivatives markets.
A surge in long liquidations, up over 3,600% in 24 hours to $107.1 million, exerted forced selling pressure. This was likely triggered as Bitcoin’s price dipped below key short-term levels, squeezing over-leveraged bullish positions.
The market quickly unwound excessive optimism, leading to a sharp but contained correction. Negative funding rates suggest traders remain cautious. A stabilisation in liquidation volumes and a reversal in funding rates signal that selling pressure is exhausted.
Bitcoin’s price was rejected from the $79,000–$79,500 zone, a key resistance area. The move lower was confirmed by a 122.85% spike in trading volume. The decline occurred in tandem with a 1.7% drop in total crypto market cap, indicating a broad, risk-off move.
The pullback represents a cooling-off period after a strong weekly rally, with Bitcoin moving in sync with the overall market. The immediate trend is bearish, but oversold conditions suggest a potential pause. The key near-term trigger is whether spot demand can absorb the selling from liquidations.
The 24-hour drop was amplified by a derivatives unwind, with technicals and broad market sentiment providing the context. The absence of a new negative catalyst suggests this is a healthy correction within a larger uptrend. XRP Price Ticks as Ripple CEO Wins Top Harvard Award
