Bitcoin Drops 2% as Kospi Falls 11%, Senate Shelves Clarity
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- Bitcoin shed around 2% during the U.S. overnight session as South Korea's Kospi stock index plunged 11% — one of its worst single-day drops in years — rattling global risk assets and dragging BTC to $63,385.70.
- AI and layer-1 tokens FET, NEAR and HYPE lost as much as 10% over 24 hours, with FET leading losses at -9.48%, while Lighter (LIT) was the standout gainer at +3.97% to $2.21 after defending the $2.10 support level for the third time this month.
- The U.S. Senate shelved the Crypto Clarity Act to prioritize a Russia sanctions bill and federal nominations, leaving just two weeks of floor time before the August 8 summer recess and putting the bill's fate this year in genuine doubt amid an unresolved dispute over restrictions on government officials' crypto holdings.
- Ether fell 0.56% to $1,880 after failing to rise through the $2,000 psychological level, while BTC funding rates hovered near 0% and funding rates for ETH, SOL, XRP and TRX flipped negative.
- Derivatives positioning turned bearish, with taker short volume reaching 51.5% — a complete turnaround from recent bullish bias — and the 24-hour open interest-adjusted cumulative volume delta turning negative across the top 25 coins for the first time in at least three weeks.
- Binance held roughly 55% of user funds and 24% of spot trading while drawing net inflows in early July, even as the broader tracked market saw outflows.
Why it matters: The Senate's shelving of the Clarity Act with only two weeks before the August 8 recess puts the bill's 2025 fate in genuine doubt, while the 11% Kospi rout drove a cross-asset risk-off that dragged BTC down 2% and AI/layer-1 tokens as much as 10%. Traders now face Wednesday's Fed decision with the act's unresolved provisions — including restrictions on officials' crypto holdings — still pending despite calm implied volatility.
