The Daily Wolf | It took one day to start rewriting the Clarity Act

About three hours after Scott Melker predicted that people hostile to crypto would write new legislation, Democrats began drafting language for an updated Clarity Act. Eleanor Terrett reported that Maxine Waters had floated a proposal, citing three industry sources who had spoken with Democratic staffers. The reported draft would build on Waters’s previously rejected crypto investor and consumer bill of rights and language she proposed for the first Clarity Act. Its main changes would give the SEC a larger role, reduce the CFTC’s role and add ethics restrictions. Waters said it would also include items Senate Democrats had agreed to, though Melker questioned whether they would still support them.

Melker expects Democrats to produce a new version of crypto legislation, pointing to reports that they had been rewriting rules over the summer in anticipation of winning the midterms. Any bill would still need 60 Senate votes and could be vetoed by Donald Trump, leaving its prospects uncertain. Melker argued, however, that rapid tokenization and blockchain adoption could be difficult to stop regardless of political shifts.

Strategy’s STRC reached its $100 par value for the first time since May after $2.25 billion in buybacks and an increase in its dividend rate. Melker said he had bought the shares in the low 90s, 80s and 70s. He predicted Strategy could resume buying Bitcoin if STRC holds at or near $100, making that price level a condition for the potential return of purchases.

The SEC’s proposed innovation exemption has not been finalized, but Canton Strategic Holdings announced issuer-sponsored trades in tokenized CNTN shares on the Canton network on November 4. Five North sold, DRW Cumberland bought and Flowdesk provided liquidity. Melker described the transactions as the first completed trades under the proposal and as evidence that such trades can be carried out.

A judge denied the Capital Markets Alliance’s request to stop Calcium and others from trading perpetual swaps, finding no showing of imminent irreparable harm. Melker said the judge indicated a future challenge to the CFTC’s authority was likely to succeed. The CFTC’s response was due November 6, with the plaintiffs’ reply due November 10. Separately, Coinbase Prime began giving eligible institutional clients access to Deribit options, futures and perpetuals through Coinbase Financial Markets, a CFTC-registered futures broker. Eligible collateral includes Bitcoin, Ether and USDC, but the products are not available to ordinary retail customers.

Bitcoin mining stocks lagged during a market rally amid concerns about AI data centers under a Democratic government, and Melker said miners may redirect investment toward AI infrastructure. Riot sold 20,264 Bitcoin for approximately $1.5 billion over nine months to fund its buildout; Melker said miner sales may have added to Bitcoin selling pressure. Mercado Bitcoin said a phased reopening would begin Monday and cover losses, but customers could view balances without accessing funds. Quickbit tracked withdrawals to hacked wallets after Mercado Bitcoin had said the incident was contained, and BitMart’s founder confirmed a hack during restructuring involving the same entity. Whether affected customers will be made whole remained uncertain.