Bitcoin Drops 3% Ahead of US Senate Clarity Act Vote

Bitcoin (BTC) dropped 3% after reaching $79,530, ahead of a U.S. Senate procedural vote on the Clarity Act, a virtual asset market structure bill. CoinDesk reported on September 15 (local time) that the Senate will decide whether to begin debate on the legislation, though this is not the final vote for passage.

BlackRock's Bitcoin spot ETF, iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), has seen $108 million in inflows over the past 20 days, while Grayscale's GBTC recorded a net outflow of $254.7 million during the same period, according to PANews citing Arkham monitoring.

China's Jiangsu Securities Regulatory Bureau declared all RWA (Real World Asset) tokenized fundraising activities within China illegal, warning investors about schemes using terms like 'real asset collateral' and 'principal protection with high returns.' Authorities noted risks of illegal fundraising, fraud, and money laundering in such cases.

The U.S. Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit for $61 million in virtual assets linked to Iranian oil sales, alleging the funds flowed to Iran's government, military, and Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The filing also accused two Chinese companies using Binance accounts to launder proceeds from Iranian oil sales.

Former China Construction Bank Asia client manager Lam Chun-yin admitted to receiving over $470,000 in Tether (USDT), with Hong Kong's ICAC stating he certified false documents for insurance-related investment transactions without bank authorization. A verdict is scheduled for September 18.

New York stock markets declined as AI-related stocks were sold amid U.S. 10-year Treasury yields surpassing 5%—the highest since 2023—and 30-year yields hitting a 2007-era high. AP reported Nvidia fell 3.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.6% ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting on September 14.

Approximately $7.73 million in rsETH was stolen from a Safe wallet, with WuBlockchain citing Blockaid monitoring that attackers used Uniswap V4 hooks and public Keeper Multicall functions. The exact method and movement of funds remain under investigation.

Balancer proposed phased protocol shutdown and DAO treasury distribution after limited success in profitability recovery plans. A snapshot vote will run from September 25-29, with potential contract pool conversion to withdrawal-only status starting October 30 if approved.

XRP Ledger's Deployment V1.1 upgrade secured 27 out of 35 trust validator votes, falling short of the required 29 for activation (80% threshold). The network requires sustained support above 80% over two weeks to activate changes.

Circle's Arc public mainnet launch day saw USDC premiums on Arc nearly double as demand surged ahead of the event. Over 10,000 transactions occurred on third-party OTC platforms, with some sellers setting their own prices per BlockBeats reports.