Bitcoin slips 1% as risk sentiment takes a hit; Clarity Act progress in focus

Chloe Harper July 24, 2026

Bitcoin edged lower on Thursday, remaining close to recent peaks as markets digested fresh cues from a new draft of a key U.S. regulatory act, while concerns over the Middle East war also remained in play.

The world’s largest crypto slipped 1.4% to $65,137.6 by 18:02 ET (22:02 GMT), but remained close to a five-week high hit earlier this week after a sharp rebound from annual lows. Broader cryptocurrency prices also advanced in tow.

But a crypto recovery stalled in the face of an escalation in the U.S.-Iran conflict, as the two exchanged tit-for-tat strikes for a twelfth consecutive day and as Yemen’s Houthi group opened up a new potential front in the Red Sea.

Crypto markets parse new draft of Clarity Act, ethics provision eyed

A new draft of the Clarity Act circulated in Washington on Wednesday, marking what lawmakers called a step toward a final Senate vote on the long-delayed crypto market structure bill.

The draft included a provision barring the president and other senior officials from crypto conflicts of interest, though the measure would sunset in 2029 and gave regulators a year to implement it.

The ethics section followed talks between Republican senators and President Donald Trump, who agreed to what a White House official described as the most comprehensive ethics provision in history.

The compromise came after Trump’s financial disclosures showed he earned more than $1 billion from crypto interests last year, a figure Democrats cited as evidence of conflicts tied to the White House.

The bill preserved the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act, which would exempt developers who do not control user assets from being treated as money transmitters. It also added language on federal preemption, provisional registration and commodity pool operators.

The Clarity act is a key piece of legislation that is expected to establish a regulatory framework for crypto in the United States. Progress of the act has largely stalled in the past year amid disagreements over its treatment of stablecoins.

Crypto exchange BitMEX to shut down in September

Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX plans to wind down operations in September, telling customers to withdraw their assets ahead of the shutdown.

The platform, owned by HDR Global Trading, said the move follows a “strategic review of the business and the broader ⁠crypto industry” but didn’t elaborate further. It gave users until September 23 to close open positions and pull their funds.

The closure comes after a turbulent stretch for BitMEX’s founders. Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed pleaded guilty in 2022 to violating U.S. anti-money-laundering rules, admitting they had failed to put compliant safeguards in place at the exchange. Prosecutors alleged the trio and the company had knowingly skirted the Bank Secrecy Act between 2015 and 2020 by not implementing required anti-money-laundering and customer-verification protocols.

Trump pardoned the founders last year, part of a broader embrace of the crypto industry after courting its donors during his campaign and pledging to back digital-asset firms in his second term.