"US Crypto market-structure bill faces test" Jul 17, 2026

The US crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act is approaching a decisive moment, with Senate Majority Leader John Thune pushing for a floor vote before the Senate recesses on August 7th. The House passed its version of the bill last year, but the Senate has not yet acted. Trump is expected to meet with Senators Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis along with senior White House officials to resolve disputes over ethics language and secure his backing for the legislation.

Democrats are warning that the current proposal does not impose strong enough restrictions on presidents, lawmakers, and other officials profiting from crypto while in office, and that weakness could cost the bill the bipartisan votes it needs to pass. Disputes over stablecoin rewards and developer protections have largely eased, but efforts to attach prediction market and sports betting rules remain a threat, with industry representatives cautioning that unrelated amendments could become a poison pill. Even if the Senate passes a revised bill, it would still require House approval and could slip past the August deadline, with supporters hoping to finish before the November elections.

JPMorgan analysts said Strategy's stronger cash position and improving demand for Bitcoin futures are encouraging for Bitcoin even as spot Bitcoin ETF flows remain weak. Strategy increased its dollar reserves to cover roughly 20 months of preferred dividends, reducing the risk it would need to sell Bitcoin to meet payments. Retail buying of leveraged Strategy ETFs has stayed positive for seven consecutive weeks, likely helping keep the company's shares above the net asset value of its Bitcoin holdings, while institutional activity strengthened across Chicago Mercantile Exchange and perpetual Bitcoin futures despite spot ETF outflows.

Strategy CEO Feng Li reiterated that the company intends to remain a major long-term Bitcoin buyer and considers its balance sheet secure, saying the company would only become concerned about its debt if Bitcoin fell to roughly $8,000. Strategy may also issue additional STRC preferred shares once they return to their $100 par value, using the proceeds to buy more Bitcoin and build further cash reserves.

Three UK men were sentenced to prison for stealing approximately $5.4 million in cryptocurrency from eight victims by impersonating police officers and directing them to fake police websites. Investigators traced more than one million pounds in crypto to wallets and approximately 500,000 pounds in cash held in a Dubai safety deposit box.

A Taiwanese court sentenced the ringleader of crypto exchange BitShine to 22 years in prison for fraud and money laundering that caused 1,539 victims to lose approximately $39 million. Prosecutors said the BitShine group laundered more than $71 million between January 2024 and April 2025, and the exchange had previously registered with Taiwan's Financial Supervisory Commission before the fraud operation was prosecuted. Taiwan is now tightening crypto regulation by requiring virtual asset service providers to obtain regulatory approval and comply with stricter cybersecurity, customer asset segregation, and internal control rules.

Bitcoin was trading at $63,243 and Ethereum at $1,837 as of 8 a.m. Eastern on July 17th.