Crypto World
US Senate Delays CLARITY Act Vote to September
Senate Republican leaders are expected to head into the August recess without bringing the CLARITY Act to a vote, according to a report from Politico. Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed the chamber would not vote before the recess, setting up a renewed push for consideration when senators return next month.
The delay leaves a major legislative milestone unresolved for the U.S. crypto sector’s most prominent push for a clearer market-structure framework. It also compresses the remaining calendar for lawmakers to secure enough support for a measure that—absent broader consensus—may face procedural hurdles that typically require a high voting threshold.
Key takeaways
- Senate Majority Leader John Thune said the CLARITY Act will not be voted on before August recess, with action expected when senators return next month.
- Politico reports Democrats have not yet provided sufficient support, and negotiations over timing arrangements have not closed.
- Without adequate backing, Republicans may struggle to reach the level of support often needed to overcome a filibuster.
- The CLARITY Act’s goal is to establish a federal framework for digital asset markets and clarify SEC vs. CFTC oversight.
Thune confirms no pre-recess vote
Thune’s position, as described in comments his office provided to Cointelegraph, centers on Senate scheduling and the current state of bipartisan agreement. He pointed to Democratic opposition to procedural timing and said the bill would be prioritized when senators return.
“The Dems are insistent on no Clarity vote,” Thune said, according to remarks his office shared with Cointelegraph. He also indicated that work with the bill’s sponsors is close enough to move quickly once the chamber is back in session, adding that Sen. Cynthia Lummis “was great” during the negotiations and that the effort is “queued up first thing when we come back.”
That matters for investors and developers because the CLARITY Act is intended to reduce uncertainty in U.S. digital-asset market oversight—particularly how regulatory responsibilities are divided between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. While market participants have long navigated a patchwork of guidance and enforcement, a statutory framework would potentially offer a more durable basis for compliance planning and product design.
Republicans race a shrinking timetable
Politico’s reporting suggests Democratic support remains the central bottleneck. The outlet cited three people familiar with the matter in saying the CLARITY Act lacks Democratic support and that negotiations were still underway as the August schedule tightened.
In the reporting, the challenge is not only whether the bill can reach the floor, but whether Senate leaders can move the remaining pre-recess business without extending the session deeper into the next week—something Politico says would generally require unanimous consent from all 100 senators to complete outstanding items.
One possibility discussed in the reporting is whether Thune could file cloture before the recess. Cloture, if pursued, can be used to limit debate and set up a floor vote later; however, Politico reported that even if cloture were filed, it would not itself be a direct vote on the legislation before senators depart.
Cointelegraph also reported that it requested clarification from Thune’s office on whether he intended to file cloture before the Senate leaves for recess, but did not receive a response by publication.
What the CLARITY Act would change
The CLARITY Act would create a federal framework for digital asset markets and—importantly—clarify how oversight is allocated between the SEC and the CFTC. That division has been a continuing focus for the industry, as regulatory treatment can affect everything from token classification and custody rules to the structure of trading venues and derivatives products.
From an editorial perspective, this is the heart of why the scheduling matters: when lawmakers cannot align quickly enough to bring the bill forward, the U.S. regulatory timeline remains dependent on ongoing agency interpretations and enforcement actions. Those are often slower to resolve and can vary in application, increasing compliance uncertainty for market participants operating in a highly competitive global environment.
Industry reaction: urgency persists
Crypto Council for Innovation CEO Ji Hun Kim called the postponement “disappointing,” according to comments provided to Cointelegraph. He said the legislation’s direction has not changed, but warned that delays continue to impose real-world costs on U.S. users and builders.
“Every day without such a framework pushes American users and builders offshore and leaves consumers at risk,” Kim said.
That critique reflects a common argument within the industry: when legislative clarity stalls, companies may rationally consider relocating or prioritizing non-U.S. markets to reduce regulatory exposure and uncertainty. At the same time, policymakers opposing the bill may be concerned about how any statutory language would codify regulatory power or shift responsibilities between agencies.
Next steps after the recess
Thune’s statement, combined with Politico’s reporting, points to a renewed attempt to move the CLARITY Act when senators return in mid-September. Readers should watch whether Republicans can secure Democratic buy-in for procedural timing—especially any time agreements needed to reach the floor—and whether the chamber can gather the level of support likely required for the bill to advance without running into the most difficult Senate obstacles.
XRP fell on August 7 after the US Senate delayed a vote on the CLARITY Act until September, adding new pressure to a token that had already been losing ground against Bitcoin (BTC) for weeks.
The setback has renewed attention on historical price trends, with analyst ChartNerd arguing that August has consistently been a difficult month for XRP during US midterm election years.
XRP Faces Selling Pressure After Senate Delays CLARITY Vote
ChartNerd wrote on X that XRP was “already bleeding” after news emerged that the Senate had postponed consideration of the CLARITY Act until after the summer recess.
Journalist Eleanor Terrett reported that sentiment across the crypto industry was mixed following the decision to push the vote into September, with some participants frustrated while others remained hopeful that lawmakers would make the bill a priority when Congress returns. Digital Chamber CEO Cody Carbone said the industry would continue working to secure enough support for a successful vote after the recess.
Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan had said that failing to pass the CLARITY Act before Congress leaves for recess would likely weigh on sentiment in the near term, although he contended that clearer expectations could leave the market better positioned later in the year. He also noted that regulatory action from the SEC could still provide guidance even if the legislation is delayed.
“Weak hands are selling today,” noted ChartNerd, as Hougan’s assessment became a reality. However, he argued that Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) had yet to see similar selling and warned that XRP could face more downside before conditions improve.
In another post, he described the move as typical for August, telling traders to focus on historical data rather than emotion. The historical data he shared showed that the Ripple token posted negative August returns during every previous US midterm year, falling 5.7% in August 2014, 23.0% in 2018, and 13.7% in 2022. This produced an average drop of about 14%.
According to the analyst, the current weakness fits that historical pattern and does not represent any new development.
Analyst Keeps Long-Term View Despite Near-Term Weakness
CoinGecko data showed XRP trading at around $1.02 at the time of writing, down 3.0% in 24 hours and nearly 6% across the week. Trading volume climbed more than 14% to about $1.33 billion, suggesting that selling activity picked up as prices slipped.
The broader crypto market was also slightly weakened, with the total market cap down 0.6%, while BTC held around $64,000 and Ethereum sat close to $1,900 with barely any movement.
Even with the latest decline, ChartNerd has not abandoned his longer-term outlook. Earlier this week, he argued that XRP is inside a large cup-and-handle formation stretching back more than eight years, with possible long-term targets at $8, $13, and $27 if the broader pattern eventually plays out.
At the same time, he acknowledged that short-term trading could be difficult and has previously said that the asset could spend much of the rest of the year consolidating around the $1 level before any sustained recovery can start.
The post XRP Price Slides on CLARITY Delay as Analyst Flags Weak August Trend appeared first on CryptoPotato.
Dow Protocol has completed a $10.5 million seed funding round to expand its blockchain-based financing model that advances working capital to e-commerce merchants against pending receivables.
Summary
- Dow Protocol has raised $10.5 million in a seed funding round led by crypto focused investors.
- The company provides working capital to e commerce merchants against pending receivables using a PayFi RWA model.
- Merchant repayments are collected automatically through integrations with e commerce platforms.
- The funding comes as tokenized real world assets continue expanding across blockchain based financial markets.
Dow Protocol announced the funding round on X, saying the investment was backed by MH Ventures, Mapleblock, Animoca Brands, Arcane Group, HSKChain, Essentia Partners, and Quartet Group. The company said it is building a PayFi real-world asset (RWA) structure that lets merchants receive financing before online marketplaces release their sales proceeds.
Unlike conventional merchant financing, which often requires businesses to wait for platform settlements or lengthy underwriting, Dow Protocol said its asset servicing partners provide funding based on merchants’ outstanding receivables and credit risk data. Repayments are then collected automatically through integrations with e-commerce platforms, where funds are deducted from merchants’ platform balances.
The company did not disclose its valuation or how it plans to allocate the newly raised capital.
Dow Protocol says merchants can receive funds within seconds
Explaining its model, Dow Protocol said e-commerce merchants usually wait between 14 and 28 days before platforms release payments from completed sales. During that period, merchants often need cash to replenish inventory, pay suppliers, or finance daily operations.
To shorten that delay, the protocol said asset servicers advance funds against pending platform receivables after assessing platform-integrated credit risk data. According to the company, merchants can receive financing within seconds, while cross-border settlements can be completed as fast as the same day.
Dow Protocol contrasted its approach with traditional financing, which it said can take between two and three months before businesses receive capital.
Because repayment instructions are built into participating e-commerce platforms, the company said loan repayments are deducted automatically once merchants receive platform payouts. Dow Protocol said this process improves repayment discipline by linking settlements directly to merchant balances instead of relying on separate repayment collections.
The company also described the addressable market as a $2.8 trillion global working capital opportunity, adding that merchants are willing to pay higher financing costs in exchange for faster access to funds.
PayFi RWA model combines receivables with on-chain lending
Dow Protocol said its financing framework applies PayFi principles to real-world assets by using merchants’ accounts receivable as the foundation for on-chain lending.
According to the company, programmable loan terms on blockchain networks can simplify operational processes that traditionally require manual administration, including repayment management, accounting, and default handling. It argued that working capital financing could become one of the earliest financial sectors to migrate on-chain because these processes can be automated within blockchain-based lending systems.
The announcement positions the protocol within a growing segment of blockchain projects that tokenize financial claims or connect real-world assets with decentralized infrastructure rather than focusing solely on cryptocurrency-backed lending.
Unlike tokenized Treasury products or blockchain-based money market funds, Dow Protocol’s model is centered on financing commercial receivables generated by online merchants.
RWA activity has continued expanding across on-chain finance
Dow Protocol’s fundraising comes as tokenized real-world assets continue gaining traction across decentralized finance.
A CoinShares report published on Aug. 6 said RWA deposits across decentralized lending platforms and exchanges reached $7.4 billion during the second quarter of 2026, more than tripling from $2.3 billion a year earlier. During the same period, total DeFi deposits declined by about 15%, while the on-chain market value of tokenized funds, equities, and commodities exceeded $40 billion, according to the report.
CoinShares said much of the deposit growth came from tokenized Treasury products, private credit strategies, and yield-bearing assets that continue generating returns while being used as collateral in lending markets. The report added that Ethereum-based lending protocols accounted for most RWA collateral activity because of their established liquidity.
Trading activity also expanded during the quarter. According to CoinShares, spot trading volume for tokenized real-world assets climbed roughly 220% year over year even as aggregate decentralized exchange spot volume declined by about 70%, suggesting that tokenized financial products are developing secondary markets beyond primary issuance.
Institutional firms have continued adding tokenized financial products
Institutional asset managers have also introduced new blockchain-based financial products in recent weeks.
Earlier this month, BlackRock launched two tokenized money market offerings, BSTBL and BRSRV, extending its digital asset strategy beyond cryptocurrency investment products. The funds invest in cash, short-term U.S. Treasury securities, and overnight repurchase agreements while allowing eligible institutional investors to access tokenized fund structures under regulated conditions.
BNY Mellon serves as transfer agent and tokenization provider for BSTBL, while Securitize performs the same role for BRSRV. BlackRock has also joined the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation’s pilot program for tokenized stocks and U.S. Treasuries alongside several major financial institutions.
Rand Hindi, CEO of the fully homomorphic encryption firm Zama, said the company reached 1,000 confidential transfers per second on GPUs, a self-reported benchmark he described as a milestone for the privacy technology. Fully homomorphic encryption, or FHE, lets computations run on encrypted data… Read the full story at The Defiant
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Memory-chip maker Sandisk (SNDK) late Wednesday beat Wall Street’s targets for its fiscal fourth quarter as demand from AI data centers remains strong, but it disappointed with an in-line outlook. Sandisk stock fell in extended trading. The Milpitas, Calif.-based company earned an adjusted $39.25 a share on sales of $8.97 billion in the quarter ended July 3. Analysts polled by…
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Ether.fi has captured roughly $223 million in annualized fees and about $51 million in annualized revenue. In the second quarter, it earned $41 million in gross revenue and nearly $10 million in earnings after rewards and other costs, with only $30,000 of value distributed to ETHFI holders through buybacks.
The split lands as Ethereum’s staking economics are under debate.
A group of Ethereum researchers, one from the Ethereum Foundation, proposed this week that the network stop paying people to stake once half of all ether is locked up. Under the current setup the payment never falls to zero no matter how much gets staked, so there is always a reason to stake more, and they argue that concentrates ether with a handful of large custodians.
Their proposed fix destroys a growing share of the rewards until the payment disappears entirely at around 60 million ether. About a third is staked today.
Ether.fi founder Mike Silagadze was among the proposal’s critics, arguing it would push out smaller stakers and weaken the products built on staking rewards, his own among them.
DoorDash (DASH) stock wavered late Wednesday after the food-delivery company’s second-quarter earnings slightly missed estimates, despite easily beating revenue forecasts. For the June-ended quarter, DoorDash earned 46 cents per share, down 29% from a year earlier. That missed the 47 cents per-share earnings that analysts polled by FactSet were forecasting. Sales increased 36% to $4.5 billion, easily beating analyst estimates…
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MARA Holdings reported weaker second-quarter 2026 financial results on Aug. 6. Revenue fell 27% year over year to $174.9 million, while the Nasdaq-listed company recorded a $611.3 million net loss and negative adjusted EBITDA of $360.9 million, according to its official presentation.
Summary
- MARA’s Bitcoin holdings fell 29% year over year to 35,577 BTC at June quarter-end 2026.
- Q2 revenue fell 27% to $174.9 million while net losses widened sharply to $611.3 million.
- Bitcoin production increased 3% to 2,422 BTC as energized hashrate reached 70.3 EH/s during Q2.
- MARA sold 2,213 BTC during Q2 after selling 20,880 BTC in the preceding first quarter.
- Post-quarter financing pledged 18,750 BTC as collateral while MARA continued expanding its AI infrastructure strategy.
The company ended June with 35,577 BTC, down 29% from 49,951 BTC a year earlier. However, that headline decline masks a small sequential increase from 35,303 BTC at March 31. MARA’s presentation also showed approximately $2.5 billion in combined cash and Bitcoin holdings at quarter-end. Shares closed Aug. 6 at $10.65, down 5.25%, according to Google Finance data.
Source: Google Finance
MARA’s Bitcoin holdings fell after heavy first-quarter sales
The annual decline in MARA’s Bitcoin treasury largely reflects sales earlier in 2026 rather than falling mining production. Its first-quarter filing showed the company sold 20,880 BTC for about $1.5 billion as it funded operations, repurchased debt and pursued new infrastructure investments. Earlier Q1 coverage detailed how the sales reduced MARA’s position from 53,822 BTC at the end of 2025.
During Q2, MARA sold another 2,213 BTC at an average price of $73,078 while producing 2,422 BTC. That left holdings slightly higher than at the end of March. The company’s treasury policy now permits opportunistic sales of balance-sheet Bitcoin, a change from its earlier emphasis on retaining mined coins.
At June 30, 4,742 BTC were loaned and 4,528 BTC were pledged as collateral, while 26,307 BTC were unrestricted. After the quarter ended, MARA pledged another 18,750 BTC as initial collateral for two Bitcoin-backed credit facilities, increasing the portion of its treasury being used to support financing.
Mining output rose despite weaker Bitcoin economics
Operational performance improved in several areas. Energized hashrate reached 70.3 EH/s, up 22% from 57.4 EH/s a year earlier. Bitcoin production increased 3% to 2,422 BTC, and blocks won rose 1% to 700. Cost per petahash per day improved 4% to $27.70 from $28.70.
Those gains did not prevent revenue from falling because the average Bitcoin price associated with mining revenue dropped sharply from the prior-year period. MARA reported an average price of Bitcoin mined of roughly $71,325, compared with $98,975 in Q2 2025. Purchased energy cost per Bitcoin at owned sites also rose, showing that greater hashrate alone did not remove profitability pressure.
The net loss was also affected by Bitcoin price accounting. The company recorded roughly $343 million of fair-value losses tied to digital assets and related receivables. That contrasts with the large fair-value gains that supported earnings in the year-earlier quarter and helps explain the swing from $808.2 million in net income to the latest loss.
MARA is using its Bitcoin balance sheet to fund an AI pivot
The company’s strategy increasingly links its Bitcoin reserves with expansion into power and computing infrastructure. After quarter-end, the company arranged two credit facilities that provide $600 million of incremental borrowing capacity and pledged 18,750 BTC as initial collateral. Proceeds may support general corporate purposes, including the planned Long Ridge acquisition.
The Long Ridge transaction is central to MARA’s effort to add AI and high-performance computing capacity. Earlier AI pivot coverage reported that the proposed $1.5 billion acquisition includes a 505-megawatt Ohio gas plant and a campus with potential for more than one gigawatt of computing capacity. The deal still requires regulatory approval before closing.
The firm is also pursuing a Texas project. Its Texas expansion plan covers a 1,200-acre powered site expected to provide up to 2 GW of grid capacity over time. Combined with Long Ridge and other assets, management says its potential power portfolio could reach about 4.8 GW.
What happens next for MARA
The main near-term milestones are financing execution, regulatory approval for Long Ridge and progress on the Texas development. Investors will also watch whether MARA continues selling or pledging Bitcoin as it funds infrastructure. The company has made clear that its treasury can serve as both a long-term asset and a source of liquidity.
Chief Executive Fred Thiel said Bitcoin mining provided the company’s foundation and that digital infrastructure and other initiatives “will expand the value we create from that foundation.” The statement is forward-looking, and the Q2 results show the transition remains costly. Mining output improved, but weaker Bitcoin pricing, higher per-coin energy costs and fair-value losses weighed heavily on reported results.
For now, MARA remains a major public Bitcoin miner and one of the largest corporate Bitcoin holders. Its next quarters will test whether expanding AI infrastructure can add steadier revenue while the company preserves enough Bitcoin exposure to benefit from a recovery in mining economics.
Hewlett Packard Ent Hewlett Packard Ent HPE $ 53.22 $0.83 1.58% 36% IBD Stock Analysis Stock trading above resistance areas around 51 and 53 Actionable above Tuesday’s high of 53.41 Relative strength line hits new high on weekly chart IBD Composite Rating 87/99 Industry Group Ranking 118/197 Emerging Pattern Consolidation Consolidation A sideways pattern that doesn’t fit traditional base definitions.…
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Bitcoin traded near $64,350 on Friday, unchanged on the week, as the whole market drifted ahead of the US payrolls report, per CoinDesk data. Ether held at $1,903 and the rest of the majors sat within a point or two, a market waiting on the data rather than moving on anything of its own.
The setup turned slightly less friendly overnight. Brent rose 1.4% to $83.61 after reports Iran will try to restrict US and Israeli ships through the Strait of Hormuz and demand compensation from countries it deems hostile before letting them pass, stalling the deal that had been pulling oil lower. Higher crude revives the inflation worry that keeps the Fed leaning tight, and the 10-year Treasury yield climbed seven basis points on it during the US session.
That macro chain is the one bitcoin has been stuck inside all summer. Oil up feeds inflation, inflation keeps yields and the dollar firm, and firmer financial conditions cap risk assets. The dollar just posted its best day in two weeks, which is the opposite of the easing setup bulls want.
Today’s jobs number is the release that matters. A soft print revives the case for the Fed to loosen and gives bitcoin room above its range. A strong one, stacked on climbing oil, hands the hawks another reason to hold, and the range that has held since May holds again. Watch the reaction in yields, not just the headline number.
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