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U.S. Senators Release Draft of Cryptocurrency Clarity Act

As bitcoin, ethereum and other cryptocurrencies see major legal, institutional, and technological developments, the financial landscape continues to adapt. Stay up on the crypto news that matters with the "Crypto Currents" weekly from The Fly. Also, join us for your essential daily recap, every day at 2 PM ET on FlyCast radio.REPUBLICAN SENATORS RELEASE NEW CLARITY ACT DRAFT:Republican senators released a new draft of the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency bill nearing a final vote in the Senate this summer, the New York Times' David Yaffe-Bellany reported, citing the draft. Senate Democrats have called for strict language in the bill that would prohibit public officials from selling digital currencies, and the draft did contain a version of those restrictions, including language making it illegal for the president and other U.S. officials to issue or sponsor cryptocurrency. The move comes after President Trump disclosed in June that he made $1.4B in crypto revenue. However, following the new draft, democrats and progressive advocacy groups contended it did not go far enough to stop Trump from using cryptocurrency to enrich himself. "The Senate majority released a bill that would do effectively nothing to stop the main ways he made that money — or could keep making it," Scott Greytak, deputy executive director of the advocacy group Transparency International U.S., said in a statement. "It would leave the underlying businesses, revenue streams and family arrangements largely untouched."BESSENT SAYS CLARITY ACT AT '1-YARD LINE':U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent suggested Tuesday that the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act is nearing approval in the U.S. Senate, describing the legislative process as being at the "1-yard line." Bessent, a proponent of the legislation, urged Congress to pass the long-awaited bill before leaving for recess. In Tuesday morning trading, Coinbaseand Circle Internetshares jumped following the comments.Mizuho noted that Circle Internet shares were up about 7% intra-day on Tuesday due to renewed hopes of the Clarity Act passing as the White House reportedly agreed on the ethics package, which had been "one of the biggest roadblocks to a Senate floor vote." However, the firm sees the act potentially opening the door for more institutional scale competition for stablecoins, "further commoditizing" Circle's USDC. Mizuho reiterated anon Circle shares.Raymond James initiated coverage of Circle Internet with a Market Perform rating with no price target. Circle, as the issuer of USDC, the second-largest stablecoin by market capitalization and the leading stablecoin by transaction volume, is well positioned to benefit from continued adoption, the analyst said. However, the Street is already modeling USDC circulation growth of 26% in 2026 and 35% in 2027, noted the analyst, who lacks "conviction there is meaningful upside to estimates."Raymond James also assumed coverage of Coinbase withCoinbase faces near-term pressure from weaker crypto trading volumes and rising competition, but continued product expansion and its "Everything Exchange" strategy could support a more durable business model, leaving the stock's risk/reward balanced, the analyst said.Meanwhile, Clear Street lowered the firm's price target on Circle Internet to $128 from $157 and kept a Buy rating on the shares as part of a Q2 earnings preview. The firm reduced the company's estimates to reflect the declining USDC market cap exiting the quarter.Clear Street also lowered the firm's price target on Coinbase to $225 from $244 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm reduced Coinbase's Q2 EBITDA estimate to $301M from $375M citing weaker than expected trading volumes. "Weak sentiment and AI trade are taking capital away from crypto," the analyst said.Citi lowered the firm's price target on Coinbase to $235 from $400 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. The firm lowered its estimates for Coinbase ahead of the Q2 report. The stock at current levels trades near "trough-cycle multiples," the analyst said. Citi believes the company's subscription and services offer "durable earnings support." It expects Q2 will be a trough volume quarter with spot volumes at a two-year low.On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission agreed to pay $150,000 in attorney fees to end Coinbase's lawsuit seeking internal documents relating to the agency's crackdown on the crypto industry. In 2023, Coinbase submitted three Freedom of Information Act requests to the SEC seeking documents related to the SEC's investigations of Zachary Coburn and Enigma MPC and to Ethereum's shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism.BULLISH SAYS SIRIS TO ACQUIRE NON-CORE EQUINITI BUSINESSES:Bullishannounced Friday that an affiliate of Siris has exercised its previously disclosed optionEQ Retirement Solutions, EQ Customer Resolutions and Lenvi. The parties expect to negotiate definitive documents to effect the carve-out of the non-core business lines in parallel with the closing of Bullish's previously announced purchase of Equiniti, subject to customary closing conditions and required regulatory approvals. As previously disclosed at the time of the announced acquisition, the financial results of the non-core businesses have been excluded from all transaction disclosures. Bullish further announced that its planned acquisition of Equiniti has received necessary competition law clearances from the United Kingdom, the United States, and Germany."The clearances we've received are an important part of the regulatory approvals required for the transaction, and we remain fully committed to what this combination makes possible," said Tom Farley, CEO. "Bringing together Equiniti's deep-rooted issuer relationships and regulated transfer agent infrastructure with Bullish's blockchain-native platform creates something that doesn't exist today, a fully integrated, institutional-grade operating system for tokenized securities."Clear Street lowered the firm's price target on Bullish to $40 from $48 and kept a Buy rating on the shares as part of a Q2 earnings preview. The firm reduced Bullish's Q2 EBITDA estimate to $26M from $27M citing weaker than expected transaction revenue. "Soft sentiment given the lack of real progress on CLARITY Act and hot money chasing the AI trade have taken much attention and capital away from crypto," the analyst said. Clear sees a challenging outlook for the industry.HUT 8 COMMERCIALIZES SECOND PHASE OF BEACON POINT:Hut 8 Corp.announced Monday thedata center campus in Nueces County, Texas through a second 15-year, $9.8B lease for 352 megawatts of IT capacity. The tenant, the high-investment-grade company that executed the Phase 1 lease, has doubled its contracted IT capacity at the campus to 704 MW. The transaction fully commercializes the Beacon Point campus against its 1,000 MW of utility capacity, secured under an interconnection agreement with AEP Texas for electric delivery service.Asher Genoot, CEO, said, "The real test of our power-first approach is what our partners are willing to commit against it. Our tenant at Beacon Point chose to double its footprint at the site, the strongest validation an asset can receive. We took this greenfield site from first lease to full commercialization in just months. That speaks to the quality of the sites we originate, the credibility of our delivery, and the long-term orientation of our partnerships. The opportunity ahead of us is to apply the same model across our development pipeline."Needham raised the firm's price target on Hut 8 to $145 from $128 and kept a Buy rating on the shares. Nvidiaexercised its option on the remaining capacity with Hut 8 at Beacon Point, the analyst noted. The firm said the economics, which are the same between both Phase 1 and 2 at the Beacon Point site, represent some of the strongest co-lo economics signed in 2026. It upped estimates for Hut and reiterated a Buy rating on the shares.Benchmark raised the firm's price target on Hut 8 to $195 from $165 and kept a Buy rating on the shares following what the firm calls "the latest validation point for its model".Morgan Stanley initiated coverage of Hut 8 with an Overweight rating and $263 price target. The firm launched coverage on three additional bitcoin miners turned-high performance computing companies, which it calls powered shell providers, noting that it remains bullish despite the recent market pullback among such "PSPs." Recent deals with hyperscalers show highly attractive terms, said the analyst, who added that "now is the time to buy these stocks" as the firm believes the market correction is "at odds with the lucrative transactions into which these companies sign."CRYPTO EXCHANGE BITMEX TO SHUT DOWN:On Thursday, cryptocurrency exchange BitMEXannounced itThe company said, "With immediate effect, we have stopped all new account registrations. Following a strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry, the board of HDR Global Trading Limited, owner and operator of BitMEX, has decided to close the exchange. This comes with a heavy heart for all of us at the company and has not been taken lightly…The BitMEX platform has always remained grounded to the true ethos of Bitcoin – neutrality, transparency, and decentralisation, which is evident through our peer-to-peer operations and a top priority focus on user fund safety. While this news is a difficult one to share, we are proud of everything that has been built at the company since its launch as a pioneer of crypto derivatives."OTHER CRYPTO NEWS:Financial institutions, bitcoin companies formStrategymakesreports USD reserve of $3.225B as of July 19BitGo, OTC Marketsto pursueBitGo Prime announces Global Liquidity LayerGalaxy DigitallaunchesBitmine ImmersionannouncesStrivepurchases 21 BTC, reports, announces Bitcoin Stewardship Commitment, price target lowered to $28 from $32 at TD CowenHyperscale DatatreasuryAI FinancialCEO issuesGreenidgechangesand Power, raises $39.4MMorgan Stanley initiates Riot PlatformswithApplied DigitalwithForward Industriesconfirmsfor Brera HoldingsTwenty One CapitalappointsAmerican Bitcoininitiated withCoinSharesunveilsBitdeerreportsSoluna Holdingsassumed withIrenraises AI Cloud annualized, price target raised to $90 from $85 at H.C. WainwrightExodus Movementprice targetat Benchmark, to $10 from $14 at NorthlandLM FundingchangesCipher Miningprice target loweredat Morgan StanleyCRYPTO STOCK PLAYS:Publicly traded companies in the space include Bit Digital, Coinbase, Core Scientific, Greenidge Generation, Mara Holdings, Strategy, Riot Platforms and TeraWulf.PRICE ACTION:As of time of writing, bitcoin rose roughly 1% this week to $64,022 in U.S. dollars, according to CoinDesk.

Bitcoin Security Consortium Formed with $15M Commitment

A group of leading financial institutions and Bitcoin companies today announced the formation of the Bitcoin Security Consortium, an initiative dedicated to supporting the long-term security and resilience of the Bitcoin network, backed by an aggregate $15M in member pledges over the next three years. Founding members are Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock (BLK), Block (XYZ), Blockstream, Coinbase (COIN), Fidelity Digital Assets, Galaxy (GLXY), and Strategy (MSTR), a cross-section of the institutional Bitcoin ecosystem that includes holders, custodians, exchanges, infrastructure providers, payments providers, and asset managers, united by a shared interest in Bitcoin's continued security. The Consortium's day-to-day work is coordinated by Mike Schmidt, Executive Director of Brink, a 501c3 non-profit that funds and supports Bitcoin open-source developers, who serves in a volunteer capacity. The Consortium will help fund and support the developers and researchers already working on Bitcoin's security, including the long-term work of preparing Bitcoin for a potential era of quantum computing. As part of the launch, members have independently pledged an aggregate of $15M over the next three years toward this work. Each member directs its own funding independently to the developers, researchers, and organizations it chooses. In the coming months the Consortium intends to publish and maintain material on Bitcoin's security, updated as developments warrant, and to continue funding and supporting the developer community.