Bitcoin Hovers Around $70,000 as Crypto Stocks Plunge

Circle stock fell 19% after the latest Senate draft of the Clarity Act included restrictions on stablecoin yield.

Crypto markets dipped slightly on Tuesday as geopolitical uncertainty persisted and investors considered the implications of the U.S. Senate’s revised draft of the crypto market structure bill, or Clarity Act.

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading at around $70,000, down less than 1% over the past 24 hours. ETH and SOL fell 0.6% to $2,135 and $90, respectively. Meanwhile, Ripple (XRP) slipped 3%.

BTC Chart

Total crypto market capitalization is down 0.2% to $2.48 trillion, according to Coingecko.

Bitcoin surged above $71,000 on Monday after President Donald Trump announced a five-day postponement of planned strikes on Iran’s power infrastructure, citing what he called productive talks with Tehran. However, Iran’s Fars news agency denied that any talks had taken place.

Clarity Act Draft Rattles Stablecoin Stocks

Circle stock plunged 19%, and Coinbase dropped 8% after details emerged from the latest draft of the Clarity Act, which would restrict stablecoin yield offerings. The revised language, crafted by Senators Angela Alsobrooks and Thom Tillis, would ban yield payments for simply holding a stablecoin while permitting narrowly defined activity-based rewards tied to transactions or platform usage.

CRCL Chart

Crypto industry insiders got their first look at the revised text during a closed-door review on Capitol Hill on Monday, according to Coindesk.

Big Movers

Nearly all of the Top 100 digital assets posted minor losses over the last 24 hours.

Today’s top gainers are Bittensor (TAO) and World Liberty Financial (WLFI), which surged 10%.

Monero (XMR) and Polkadot (DOT) are the biggest losers, down 5% and 4%, respectively.

Around 79,000 leveraged traders were liquidated for $153 million in the past 24 hours, according to CoinGlass. Bitcoin accounted for $46 million, while ETH made up $33 million.

Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) recorded inflows of $163.5 million on Tuesday, snapping a three-day losing streak, according to SoSoValue.

The Crypto Fear & Greed Index sits at 11, indicating ‘Extreme Fear’, and has spent the bulk of March below 20, a prolonged stretch of pessimism not seen since the depths of the 2022 bear market.

Source: https://thedefiant.io/news/markets/bitcoin-hovers-around-usd70-000-as-crypto-stocks-plunge