The market this morning

Senate readies a consequential Clarity Act vote as banks, the SEC and the White House stake out positions

By Crypto Info News

Good morning. The Senate is heading into a consequential vote on Tuesday on sweeping cryptocurrency legislation, The Block reported, while questioning whether the Clarity Act has enough support to pass. The positioning around that vote defined Monday.

The bill is being pushed and pulled at once. Decrypt reported that eight trade associations are demanding stricter stablecoin limits, arguing that exceptions for interest-like rewards could pull deposits from banks and reduce lending. CoinDesk reported that Senator Lummis, one of Washington's top market-structure negotiators, says she has run out of new revisions after more than five years on the bill, while Democrats will not quit asking for more. The White House's top crypto adviser told The Block he feels "very good" about an initial Senate vote on Tuesday.

Regulators signalled they will act with or without the law. CoinDesk reported that SEC Chair Atkins backs the Clarity Act but said the agency will keep pushing crypto rules regardless, naming issuance, transfer-agent modernization and custody as the backbone of that effort. CoinDesk also reported that even if Clarity fails, financial firms have moved far enough into digital assets that failure may slow adoption rather than stop it. Separately, the SEC issued an order granting exemptive relief from certain Inline XBRL requirements adopted on 16 December 2024.

Tokenization advanced on its own. Cointelegraph reported that Kraken's new xStocks vaults let investors earn DeFi yield on tokenized versions of Nvidia and major US ETFs by lending the assets. CoinDesk reported that Robinhood plans share redemptions and voting rights for its stock tokens after scrutiny over ownership rights; The Block reported that Robinhood Chain's total value locked has climbed to nearly $1 billion since its 1 July launch, with daily DEX volume reaching $1.88 billion on Sunday. Cointelegraph reported that UK regulators will develop a tokenization roadmap after receiving 123 responses to the FCA's wholesale consultation.

Markets were mixed. As the market closed, BTC traded at $78,173.35, up 1.76% on the day, and XRP was the notable mover, up 6.08% to $1.42; ETH sat at $2,514.76. Glassnode's Week 38 note reported a different picture over a longer window, with bitcoin slipping to $76.8k, down 4.4% on the week amid ETF outflows.

What to watch: Tuesday's Senate vote and its whip count.