Bitcoin (BTC) gave back midweek gains, temporarily around $63,890 on July 17. The U.S. “CLARITY Act” is entering the final sprint, and Trump’s conflicts of interest remain a key obstacle. He is accused of promoting Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple stocks just a few days after buying shares in those companies.
Macro Events & Crypto Market Hotspots
- According to The Block, the U.S. Congress is in the final sprint for the “CLARITY Act.” Optimism among lawmakers is rising, but ethical provisions around conflict-of-interest issues involving Trump remain the biggest hurdle. South Carolina Republican Congressman William Timmons said, “This is one of the president’s top priorities, and a bipartisan issue in Congress,” adding, “We’re going to get it done—there may be some twists and turns, but we will definitely get it done.” Senate Majority Leader John Thune hopes to have the bill submitted for a full Senate vote before the August recess, and an updated text is expected to be released this week. But if the Senate passes it, the bill still needs to return to the House, with a tight time window.
On the ethical provisions, representatives from both parties have spent months discussing restrictions on senior officials such as the president, vice president, and members of Congress profiting from digital assets while in office. On Thursday afternoon, President Trump, Senators Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis, White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt, and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles will meet to seek Trump’s support on the issue. But Politico reports that the current draft does not have support from Democrats. Senator Ruben Gallego said, “Without strong ethics provisions, there will be no Democratic votes.” Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, called the ethics issue a “critical link,” saying Democrats’ offices are firm on this position, though she remains optimistic the bill will pass. The gaming association is pushing to fold prediction-market sports betting rules into the bill, but it could become a disruptive amendment.
- CoinGape cited a CNN investigation showing that after President Trump bought stocks in multiple companies, including Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple, he promoted them soon afterward. This further fueled questions about morality and conflicts of interest, especially notable because the “CLARITY Act” itself is being questioned for including moral provisions that limit a president’s participation in the crypto sector.
The report further said that just days after President Trump bought stocks in more than 20 companies, he promoted those companies through his “Truth Social” account. These include government measures that may benefit the companies he invested in. The companies particularly include Nvidia, Tesla, and Apple. For example, in a statement issued in 2025, President Trump said his administration would move faster in issuing all necessary permits for Nvidia and similar companies to build AI supercomputers in the U.S.
News Flashes
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PayPal’s board believes Stripe and Advent’s acquisition offers are too low and face regulatory and financing obstacles
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Zhixpu’s annual recurring revenue reaches $1 billion, up 15x over the first half
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Bonzo Finance: to fully compensate users affected by attacks on the oracle
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Airbnb CEO’s X account was hacked and used to post fake AI content promoting tokenization of crypto
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The U.S. “CLARITY Act” enters the final sprint: Trump’s conflict of interest remains a key obstacle
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DefiTuna discloses its lending pool was attacked, with losses of about $580,000
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Google’s flagship model Gemini 3.5 Pro release delayed by months due to insufficient programming ability
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JPMorgan: Strategy’s increased cash reserves are a positive signal for Bitcoin prospects
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T. Rowe Price launches its first actively managed multi-token crypto ETF
Market Performance
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Latest on Bitcoin: $BTC gave back midweek gains, temporarily around $63,890. In the past 24 hours, liquidations totaled $58.27 million, with the biggest long liquidations;
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U.S. stocks’ four major indices closed lower on July 16, with tech stocks dragging down major U.S. benchmarks. The Nasdaq fell more than 1%, the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index plunged over 4%. Despite TSMC releasing strong financial results, market worries about AI spending were not eased, and chip stocks continued to weigh on the broader market. The Dow Jones Industrial Index closed down 105.32 points, down 0.20%, at 52,553.32; the S&P 500 fell 38.63 points, down 0.51%, to 7,533.77; the Nasdaq fell 387.28 points, down 1.47%, to 25,881.95.
(Source: Gate)
- In the Gate BTC/USDT liquidation map, using the current 63,819.70 USDT as the reference point: if it drops to around $63,501, the total liquidation amount for long positions would exceed $148 million. If it rises to around $65,244, the total liquidation amount for short positions would exceed $217 million. The liquidation amount on the short side is significantly higher than on the long side. It’s advised to manage leverage reasonably and avoid triggering large-scale liquidations amid market moves.
(Source: Coinglass)
- In the past 24 hours, BTC spot inflows were $1.61 billion, outflows were $1.68 billion, for net outflows of $70 million.
(Source: Coinglass)
- In the past 24 hours, contract trades with net outflows led among $AKE, $CL, $US, $PAXG, $QQQ , etc., with potential trading opportunities.
Selected X KOL Views
Phyrex Ni (@Phyrex_Ni): “Another tiring day, but today $BTC ’s performance is still pretty good—especially after the Nasdaq continues to fall by more than 1%, Bitcoin didn’t keep dropping like it took a laxative. It’s still trading sideways around $64,000. I can’t really say Bitcoin’s bottom is exactly $60,000, but I’ve emphasized it countless times: the buying power at $60,000 is very strong. I’ve been buying between $59,000 and $63,000 myself.”
“Lately it’s still a good time to trade with a two-currency approach. Buy low at $62,000—could get roughly a 10% return. Sell high at $66,000—could get roughly a 20% return. My average cost is already below $62,000. I’m still in a comfortable zone. But if Bitcoin’s price goes above $67,000, I won’t be very interested in trying to bottom-fish—I’d just keep selling high.”
“Today I shorted SKHYUSDT all day; the rationale is also clear. If you’re interested, you can take a look. I mainly use SK as the benchmark and ADR as the reference. As long as SK is falling and ADR isn’t rising, I’ll keep shorting. If ADR rises again, I may consider closing the short. I won’t consider going long for now, because more and more people know about the issues in South Korea.”
“Today some friends asked me whether WTI can keep being shorted. It’s not about whether you’ve seen Trump’s strike against Iran, and whether you should close it. My answer is the same as the current WTI trend. After Trump TACO’ed it, information at this level is already hard for the market to cause much volatility. I put my $82 WTI and $86 Brant orders out for several days and still didn’t get filled.”
“Stay calm. But ensure your margin is over $100, just in case.”
Today’s Outlook
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Eurozone June final CPI (annual), prior value 2.8%
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Eurozone June final CPI (month-over-month), prior value -0.1%
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U.S. June housing starts (annualized month-over-month), prior value -15.4%
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U.S. July University of Michigan consumer sentiment index preliminary estimate, prior value 49.5
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South Korea Constitution Day holiday closure of markets
