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Altcoins

Regulatory Uncertainty Keeps Bitcoin Under Pressure

The crypto market was hoping for a strong signal from Washington, but it will have to wait. The postponement of discussions in the U.S. Congress on several crypto-related texts has halted inv

AnonymousCryptoCompass newsroom
August 7, 2026
6 min read
NEWS
Regulatory Uncertainty Keeps Bitcoin Under Pressure
CryptoCompass editorial visual for altcoins coverage.

The crypto market was hoping for a strong signal from Washington, but it will have to wait. The postponement of discussions in the U.S. Congress on several crypto-related texts has halted investor momentum, leaving bitcoin unable to break through its key resistance levels. This setback reminds us how much U.S. political decisions continue to dictate the pace of the markets. In an environment already marked by macroeconomic uncertainties, every legislative delay now feeds into a wait-and-see attitude and postpones hopes for a new bullish catalyst.

In brief

  • The vote on the Clarity Act is postponed to September 14 due to lack of consensus in the U.S. Senate.
  • Stuck around $64,000, BTC struggles to break the $66,000 resistance despite $626 million inflows into spot ETFs.
  • XRP leads the declines (-5.5% over 7 days), while Hyperliquid’s HYPE token stands out for its resilience.
  • The decision on rates and upcoming inflation figures maintain pressure on the $63,000 support.

Bitcoin: the Clarity Act deadlock and institutional blockade in the Senate

The attempt to establish a clear regulatory framework in the United States is entering a crucial turbulence zone. The long-awaited vote regarding the Clarity Act bill will not take place before the parliamentary return, as senators failed to reach a compromise before their summer recess. This delay pushes any legislative arbitration at least until September 14, the date planned for the resumption of the U.S. Senate’s work. The key factors of this blockade revolve around the following elements :

  • A lack of bipartisan consensus : the text requires 60 favorable votes to be adopted, while it currently struggles to gather 50 confirmed supports ;
  • Strict ethical requirements : Democrats condition their support on the introduction of stronger ethics and anti-conflict of interest clauses, targeting Donald Trump’s asset situation, who declared over one billion dollars of income from crypto activities in 2025 ;
  • An overloaded parliamentary agenda : Senate Majority Leader John Thune pointed out that the return will offer a very narrow three-week window, during which the text will have to compete with the emergency bill on federal government financing and the sanctions package against Russia ;
  • A collapse of market confidence : on predictive markets like Polymarket, the odds of seeing the Clarity Act enacted during 2026 have collapsed to around 15%, compared to over 70% recorded in early May.

This institutional blockade instantly results in marked lethargy on bitcoin’s price. The top crypto by market capitalization remains stuck around the $64,300 threshold, recording an almost zero change over the last 24 hours as well as over the entire week. Despite repeated attempts at momentum, the asset proves unable to surpass the resistance zone located between $66,000 and $66,600. This lack of dynamism occurs, however, in a context of sustained institutional inflows.

Indeed, spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $626 million of net cumulative inflows between August 3 and 5. These massive capital flows helped support the market structure and avoided a sharp drop by firmly defending the support zone established between $63,000 and $64,000. However, uncertainty surrounding the U.S. regulatory agenda prevents these capitals from transforming into sufficient driving momentum to trigger an upside breakout.

A widespread contraction of the altcoin market except for Hyperliquid

The wait for a U.S. legal framework asymmetrically impacts different alternative cryptos. XRP establishes itself as the most heavily penalized asset among large caps, suffering a decline of over 2% in 24 hours to settle at $1.02, which brings its weekly loss to 5.5%.

Other major assets also undergo a moderate downward pressure. Solana drops over 1% near $73, down 2% over seven days, while Dogecoin slips below the symbolic $0.07 threshold. For its part, Ethereum shows relative neutrality by holding at $1,897, displaying a marginal weekly decline.

Only BNB manages to stabilize around $591, gaining 1% over a week. In this gloomy panorama, the HYPE token from the Hyperliquid platform is a notable exception. Although it concedes a slight decline of less than 1% on the day around $56, the asset outperforms the majority of the market with a 1.3% rise over seven days, demonstrating resilience related to usage metrics of its ecosystem.

This divergence within the alternative market is mainly explained by arbitrage behaviors observed among institutional and retail investors. In times of global legislative uncertainty, capital tends to withdraw preventively from assets whose regulatory structure remains the most ambiguous or exposed to the U.S. framework.

This is the case for projects like Ripple, whose past legal developments maintain an extreme sensitivity to Washington announcements. Conversely, protocols benefiting from a high organic internal trading volume and inherent traction manage to capture the residual liquidity. This phenomenon of selective rotation reflects increased maturity in the sector, where the systematic correlation with bitcoin temporarily fades in favor of a fundamental analysis of each network’s individual performances.

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Macroeconomic pressure and the role of the Fed

Beyond legislative considerations, price trajectories remain closely tied to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy. At its last meeting in July, the monetary institution chose to leave its key rates unchanged in the range of 3.50% to 3.75%, a decision marked by the dissent of three governors who voted in favor of a quarter-point rate hike.

The upcoming week will be decisive for the crypto market, with the release of highly anticipated U.S. employment data and July’s monthly inflation figures. An unexpectedly strong employment report or persistent inflation would support the thesis of a prolonged maintenance of high interest rates, a scenario historically unfavorable to high-risk assets. Such a configuration would heighten selling pressure on bitcoin, risking to test again the solidity of the $63,000 technical support.

Ultimately, the crypto market approaches the end of the summer period in a cautious observation posture between the rigor of monetary fundamentals and the promises of a deferred legal framework. While institutional demand via ETFs offers a temporary floor to prices, the absence of an immediate regulatory catalyst considerably limits short-term buyers’ initiative. Investors’ attention will need to focus jointly on regulators’ ability to find common ground when parliamentarians return on September 14 and on the U.S. macroeconomic trajectory. Only a favorable convergence between monetary easing and legal clarity will provide the necessary visibility to initiate a new durable trend phase approaching the last quarter.