Bitcoin and the broader crypto market experienced a volatile week as Washington took centre stage, with legislative developments around the Clarity Act driving sharp price swings in both directions.
Rally and Reversal
Prices surged early in the week after Treasury Secretary Bessent described the Clarity Act as being at the "one-yard line", pushing bitcoin above US$65,000 and sparking a broader rally across ether, XRP, and the wider market. The optimism was short-lived, however. By Wednesday, a group of key Senate Democrats declared the latest draft "falls short" on ethics provisions, sending implied odds of passage tumbling from 46% to 38% and pulling bitcoin back towards US$65,500.
With 60 votes needed and roughly two working weeks remaining before the summer recess, the outcome remains uncertain.
Floor Holds, Ceiling Too
Despite the turbulence, bitcoin is up approximately 13% from its 1 July low of US$57,750, making this the strongest month since January. Weekly flows reached US$716 million — the highest since early May — while ETH hovered near US$1,920.
Yet, analysts caution against reading too much into the momentum. According to Alexandre Schmidt, Equity Index Manager at CoinShares, no significant short-term catalyst is on the horizon absent a shift in monetary policy expectations — a prospect that moved further away this week.
"The market is currently trading two competing binaries: the Clarity vote count and the tanker war," said Schmidt. "Range trading remains our base case."
