Bitcoin Hits $97,000 Amid Senate Crypto Vote, Iran Developments; Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Fall: Analyst Says BTC’s Trend Is ‘Upwards’ – Grayscale Bitcoin Mini Trust (BTC) (ARCA:BTC)

Bitcoin rallied, while the stock and oil markets retreated on Wednesday as geopolitical tensions and the upcoming vote on a cryptocurrency bill influenced investors’ decisions.

CryptocurrencyGains +/-Price (Recorded at 8:30 p.m. ET)Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC)+1.23%$96,617.34Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH)               -0.11%$3,330.89XRP (CRYPTO: XRP)                         -1.89%$2.12Solana (CRYPTO: SOL)                         +0.18%$145.81Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE)             -1.84%$0.1455Bitcoin Lifts As Sentiment Turns To ‘Greed’

Bitcoin rallied to a 2-month high of $97,860, extending its gains this year to more than 10%.

Benzinga

Coinbase Pulls Support Of CLARITY Act, Citing Restrictions

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange cannot support the Senate Banking Committee’s latest draft of the CLARITY Act, warning that the bill, as written, would leave the U.S. crypto industry worse off than the current regulatory status quo.

In a post on X, Armstrong cited several concerns, including what he described as a de facto ban on tokenized equities, new restrictions on decentralized finance that could grant the government broad access to users’ financial data, and provisions that weaken the Commodity Futures Trading Commission while expanding the Securities and Exchange Commission’s authority.

“After reviewing the Senate Banking draft text over the last…

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CleanSpark Shares Surge As Texas Land Deal Positions Company For AI Data Center Growth – Cleanspark (NASDAQ:CLSK)

CleanSpark, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLSK) shares surged on Wednesday after it announced it is expanding its Texas footprint with a land-and-transmission deal near Houston aimed at powering large-scale data center campuses built for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing.

The move targets a scarce resource in today’s market: transmission-level electricity in a strategically located grid.

The company signed a definitive agreement to acquire up to 447 acres in Brazoria County, Texas, along with a long-term extension arrangement for transmission facilities. CleanSpark anticipates that the site will initially support approximately 300 megawatts, with potential for expansion up to 600…

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Russia Wants To Make Crypto ‘Everyday Finance’ In New Bill

Russia is moving closer to opening its crypto market to everyday investors, as lawmakers prepare legislation that would remove digital assets from a special regulatory category and allow broader, though still capped, retail participation.

Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma’s Committee on Financial Markets, said a draft bill is ready for consideration during the spring parliamentary session. 

The proposal would effectively normalize cryptocurrency within Russia’s financial system, signaling a shift toward treating digital assets as part of “everyday finance” rather than an exceptional or experimental instrument, according to local media outlet TASS. 

Under…

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Bitcoin Hits $97,000 As Ethereum, XRP, Dogecoin Pop 2%

Bitcoin briefly spiked to $97,500 on Wednesday as improving macro sentiment boosted risk assets, driving a sharp increase in liquidations and renewed ETF demand.

Notable Statistics:

Coinglass data shows 149,828 traders were liquidated in the past 24 hours for $848.51 million.       

In the past 24 hours, top gainers include Dash, Internet Computer and Monero.

Notable Developments:

Trader Notes:  Altcoin Sherpa said Bitcoin has finally broken out of its two-month consolidation range, though market sentiment remains cautious due to lingering fear from past false breakouts.

Despite the hesitation, he remains bullish, noting that a move toward $100,000 is still the base case unless a…

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Senate Republicans Release CLARITY Act Fact Sheets

After months of legislative negotiation and industry scrutiny, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act is moving toward a critical juncture on Capitol Hill this week as Senate committees align timelines and prepare some key markups that could finally break the deadlock on U.S. crypto regulation. 

The Senate Banking Committee released an amended draft of the CLARITY Act ahead of a scheduled markup and amendment debate, while the Senate Agriculture Committee set its own markup for late January.

Earlier today, Senate Republicans on the Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee released a series of fact sheets this week detailing the Act. The Senate’s Banking Committee markup is…

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The State Of Bitcoin Self-Custody In 2026 W/ Casa CEO

As Bitcoin enters 2026 with sustained institutional adoption and price stability following the 2024-2025 bull run, self-custody remains a cornerstone of the asset’s sovereignty promise. Yet the landscape has evolved significantly. Spot Bitcoin ETFs have unlocked access to passive investors comfortable with Wall Street’s “trust me, bro” brokerage models, while physical attacks on crypto users have surged to record levels, known as “wrench attacks”. So, is self-custody a thing of the past, a dead meme many of us fell for, or is it transforming as Bitcoin matures? 

In a recent interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Casa CEO Nick Neuman provided a candid perspective of these…

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BONK May Hit $1 Before SHIB Does—Here’s Why

BONK (CRYPTO: BONK) is up 6% over the past 24 hours as Grayscale Investments added the Solana meme coin to its Q1 consideration list, triggering speculation that Wall Street’s first regulated BONK product could a massive rally.

First Institutional Pathway Opens For Solana Meme Coin

Grayscale disclosed BONK on its quarterly Assets Under Consideration list alongside 40 other tokens spanning DeFi, AI, and smart contract platforms.

The move marks the first time a major TradFi asset manager has publicly evaluated BONK for an investment product.

BONK now joins Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) as the only meme coins under active Grayscale consideration. 

The firm’s Dogecoin ETF $GDOG launched in late…

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Senate Crypto Vote In 72 Hours: What Are The Chances Of The Bill Passing? – Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN)

The crypto industry’s biggest legislative moment arrives Thursday, and Galaxy Research says there’s only a 25% chance enough Democrats will break ranks to give the bill a real shot at becoming law.

Thursday Vote Could Decide Crypto’s Fate Through 2027

Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) and Robinhood Markets Inc. (NASDAQ:HOOD) shareholders face a critical test as the markup hearing could determine whether crypto gets federal regulatory clarity in 2025—or waits until 2027 or beyond.

Galaxy Research analyst Alex Thorne laid out three scenarios with dramatically different outcomes for crypto stocks.

Scenario 1: Bipartisan Win (25% probability) All Republicans plus two to four Democrats…

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