Strategy Liquidation Weighs on Early Sentiment
Bitcoin nearly tapped $64,000 on Monday as the cryptocurrency looked poised to kick-start the new week on a high note after ending July with modest gains. Yet the cryptocurrency’s ascent to a daily peak of just above $63,900 was not straightforward. Market data show it initially trended downward, sliding from an earlier peak of around $63,650 to an intraday low of $62,216.
The downward slide appeared linked to reports that Strategy had completed its third bitcoin sale of 2026, offloading 1,638 bitcoins between July 27 and Aug. 2. The company said proceeds were used to fund preferred stock dividend payments and support STRC share repurchases. Although some coins were sold as bitcoin rose on the back of the Fed rate decision and slightly better PCE data, news of the liquidation weighed on market sentiment.
Yet, as the day progressed, reports that the Trump administration is again engaged in talks with Iran helped fuel bitcoin’s recovery. As shown by the daily chart, bitcoin jumped from $62,404 at around 8:10 a.m. EST to reach an intraday peak of $63,920 in under three hours. While it had retreated to around $63,680 at the time of writing (1:04 p.m. EST), the cryptocurrency’s jump of more than $1,000 helped push its daily gains to 0.7%.
The modest gain lifted its market capitalization to approximately $1.28 trillion, which in turn pushed the total crypto market capitalization to $2.28 trillion. On the derivatives market, bitcoin’s price action over 24 hours saw nearly $82 million in leveraged positions liquidated, with short positions accounting for almost $50 million of the total.
While bitcoin’s latest marginal gain narrowed its weekly losses to 1.9%, many experts continue to warn that without progress on the CLARITY Act, the cryptocurrency’s upside potential will remain limited. Yet, with U.S. senators still locked in a deadlock over the wording of the bill, the odds of it passing before recess are getting slimmer.
Senate Deadlock Over CLARITY Act Caps Upside
News that the Senate’s Monday agenda omitted the CLARITY Act compounded fears that the digital asset framework is running out of runway before the upcoming recess. Investors quickly adjusted their expectations, with prediction markets reacting swiftly to the legislative bottleneck. Polymarket data underscored the mounting pessimism, showing the odds of the bill being signed into law plummet by more than 10 percentage points over the past week—sliding from 38% last Monday to just 27%.
Looking ahead, the window to pass landmark crypto market structure before the August 7 recess is rapidly slamming shut. Unless Senate Republicans offer substantial concessions to Democrats on contentious ethics safeguards—particularly around conflict-of-interest rules for executive officials—and resolve banking trade group objections over stablecoin yield, the bill will fall well short of the 60 votes required to clear a filibuster.
If the bill is shelved until the fall, its chances will deteriorate further as midterm campaign season consumes the legislative calendar and forces lawmakers to reintroduce the framework in an unpredictable post-election Congress.