U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune has filed cloture on a motion to bring the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act—known as the CLARITY Act—to the Senate floor, setting up a pivotal procedural vote tied to the next legislative window. The move comes as lawmakers prepare to return to Washington after the August recess, with the Senate expected to reconvene on Sept. 15.

Under Senate rules, invoking cloture requires a 60-vote threshold, meaning Republicans will need support from Democrats to clear the procedural hurdle. The filing does not automatically translate into final passage; instead, it is designed to advance the bill for consideration and potentially a later vote on the legislation itself.

Key takeaways

• John Thune filed cloture to take up the CLARITY Act, a procedural step requiring 60 votes.
• The Senate is expected to reconvene on Sept. 15, with the vote anticipated shortly after.
• Cloture clears a path for consideration but does not guarantee the bill will ultimately pass.
• Negotiations have stalled over disagreements, including ethics provisions and how stablecoin-related rewards should be regulated.
• Lawmakers are reportedly working on a bipartisan ethics addendum to address concerns tied to the president’s crypto-related financial interests.

Procedural push puts the CLARITY Act back on the calendar

According to the U.S. Senate Daily Press, the Majority Leader’s office confirmed that Thune filed cloture on the motion to bring the CLARITY Act to the Senate floor for consideration. The Senate Daily Press is tied to the daily publication of official Senate floor scheduling and related procedural matters, making it a direct channel for confirming when actions like cloture are submitted.

Cloture matters because it addresses debate length and related parliamentary tactics. With 60 votes required to invoke cloture, the bill’s fate in the chamber hinges on whether enough senators across party lines agree the legislation should move forward for lawmakers to debate and vote on substance.

Thune’s filing effectively repositions the CLARITY Act for action after negotiations failed to produce a deal before the August recess. Lawmakers now have additional time leading up to the September session—when procedural momentum can become substantive momentum, if the outstanding policy issues can be resolved.

Why the bill is politically and structurally significant

The CLARITY Act is widely described as a landmark effort to create a more uniform federal framework for how digital assets are categorized and overseen. The bill’s core aim is to establish a federal market structure for digital assets and clarify how regulators should apply existing securities and commodities laws.

In particular, the legislation is positioned to delineate when particular crypto assets fall under the jurisdiction of the Securities and Exchange Commission versus the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That clarity is a major concern for market participants because regulatory ambiguity can complicate product development, market access, and compliance strategies.

While the procedural step now puts the bill back into focus, the filing also underscores that the legislative path is still conditional. Even if senators clear cloture, the CLARITY Act could still face further obstacles in a later floor vote depending on whether negotiators can bridge remaining disagreements.

The sticking points: ethics rules and stablecoin-related provisions

The road to a compromise has been complicated by disputes over multiple elements, including ethics provisions and rules governing stablecoin rewards. The ethics question has been particularly difficult, according to reporting referenced in the original coverage: lawmakers have been unable to settle on proposed restrictions that would limit government officials—and their families—from issuing or profiting from digital assets while in office.

These provisions are more than technical language. Ethics rules can become a defining political battleground because they shape how lawmakers manage perceived conflicts of interest, especially in a sector where public officials may hold or interact with crypto investments.

Beyond ethics, stablecoin rewards have also reportedly been a source of friction. While the specific policy details are not laid out in the available text, the inclusion of stablecoin-related reward rules indicates that negotiators have to align on how certain yield or incentivization mechanics should be treated under U.S. oversight.

Until those issues are resolved, the CLARITY Act’s movement in the Senate may be best understood as a procedural advance—an effort to keep negotiations alive rather than a guarantee that consensus is close.

Reported attempt to break the ethics impasse

To address the ethics impasse, lawmakers have reportedly been working on a bipartisan addendum. Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph referenced a proposal aimed at addressing Democratic concerns about President Donald Trump’s crypto-related financial interests, with Bloomberg reporting that the approach would require the president to divest from certain crypto-related businesses.

The rationale for such an addendum is straightforward: rather than relying solely on broad restrictions on officials and their families, negotiators may seek a targeted solution tied to the president’s holdings. The shift matters because it could alter the negotiation dynamics between parties—potentially allowing the ethics language to become more politically acceptable while still addressing conflict-of-interest concerns.

However, the existence of a proposed ethics framework does not itself confirm that the final language will be agreed upon or adopted. The next procedural vote will signal whether enough senators believe the bill is worth taking up despite remaining uncertainties, and it may also pressure negotiators to finalize language quickly enough to avoid further delays.

What to watch after Sept. 15

With the Senate expected to reconvene on Sept. 15 and the cloture vote anticipated soon after, the immediate question is whether Democrats will provide the additional votes needed to reach the 60 threshold. If they do, lawmakers can proceed to debate substance—but readers should still watch for how ethics and stablecoin-reward provisions evolve, since those items have been central to the breakdown in earlier negotiations.

Demand for US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) accelerated sharply over the past week, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas. The renewed inflow momentum arrives after months of uneven participation, rekindling a key question for market watchers: whether institutional appetite is broadening again—or whether this is a temporary swing in investor behavior.

At the same time, the discussion around custody remains unsettled after a high-profile Coldcard hardware wallet incident in which attackers reportedly stole about $116 million in Bitcoin. The security breach has renewed attention on the trade-offs between self-custody and regulated products like spot ETFs.

Key takeaways

• Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas said spot Bitcoin ETFs drew about $1 billion in net inflows for the week, the strongest since April.
• Balchunas described the rebound as the third-best weekly performance since last October—an era he called Bitcoin’s “silent IPO.”
• A Coldcard security exploit linked to vulnerable firmware has put self-custody concerns back in focus.
• Balchunas suggested the hack could help drive some investors toward spot ETFs, though he cautioned that the link is not proven.

Spot Bitcoin ETF inflows rebound after a patchy stretch

Balchunas posted that US spot Bitcoin ETFs took in roughly $1 billion in net inflows over the week ending Saturday. He said the result was the strongest weekly showing since April and ranked as the third-best week since last October, when he referred to Bitcoin’s “silent IPO.”

The “silent IPO” framing comes from investor Jordi Visser, who popularized the idea in November. In Visser’s view, early Bitcoin holders were gradually selling into expanding demand from ETFs and other institutional channels. The effect, under the theory, was enough additional supply to keep Bitcoin comparatively constrained even as new capital continued to enter via regulated vehicles.

That context matters for interpreting this week’s improvement. The source notes that ETF flows had deteriorated in earlier periods of stronger demand, making the recent rebound more noticeable. For traders and portfolio managers, consistent ETF inflows tend to be easier to track and model than broader, decentralized participation, so a return to stronger weekly demand can quickly change sentiment around the near-term positioning of institutions.

Coldcard hack refreshes the custody debate

The ETF story is unfolding alongside a major security incident involving Coldcard, a Bitcoin hardware wallet developed by Coinkite. The exploit reportedly resulted in about $116 million worth of Bitcoin being stolen, with the attack tied to a flaw in how affected devices generated wallet keys. According to the earlier coverage referenced in the source, attackers were able to compromise funds held in wallets created using vulnerable firmware.

On Friday, Balchunas argued that the Coldcard incident could ultimately strengthen the case for spot Bitcoin ETFs—particularly for investors who prefer not to manage the technical responsibilities that come with self-custody. He pointed to the observed surge in ETF inflows following the hack as a possible connection.

In his comments, Balchunas explicitly acknowledged the limitations of drawing conclusions from timing alone. “Correlation does not imply causation,” he said, but added that, over the long term, he can’t imagine there aren’t some investors who migrate from cold storage to ETFs.

For market participants, this is a meaningful mechanism to watch: a single security incident can influence risk perception across the broader custody ecosystem. Even when the affected devices are limited to specific conditions, the reputational impact can push some users toward a custody model backed by regulated intermediaries—especially those evaluating whether the operational burden of holding Bitcoin directly is worth the benefits.

What to watch next: whether inflows persist and custody concerns evolve

Even with this week’s strong ETF numbers, the key question is durability. Balchunas’ “silent IPO” concept suggests that ETF demand and investor selling behavior can interact in ways that keep price action subdued relative to capital inflows. The rebound in net flows therefore doesn’t automatically resolve the larger balance between new institutional purchases and supply from earlier holders—but it does reintroduce a tailwind to demand that was less pronounced in earlier weeks.

Separately, the Coldcard episode raises a second uncertainty: whether the custody shift Balchunas hinted at becomes visible in sustained ETF inflow patterns, or remains anecdotal. Investors watching the next cycle of weekly flows may want to compare whether inflows continue to strengthen over multiple reporting periods, and whether risk communication around hardware wallets changes in response to the incident.

Until regulators clarify broader standards and until the market sees how persistent the post-hack behavior proves to be, the combination of improving ETF demand and renewed custody concerns will likely remain a central driver of how Bitcoin’s institutional narrative develops.

Going forward, readers should track whether the next several weeks of spot Bitcoin ETF flows match this week’s strength—and whether custody-related headlines translate into measurable, sustained shifts in investor allocation between self-custody and regulated products.

Russian consumers’ demand for hardware crypto wallets more than doubled in the first half of 2026, according to data from two major retailers, as the country prepares to introduce new crypto rules.

Retailer M.Video said unit sales on its marketplace rose 107% in the second quarter from the first quarter, while sales by value increased 92%. The retailer did not disclose the number of devices sold.

Wildberries, another Russian retailer, also recorded higher demand. Unit sales rose 84% in the first half from a year earlier, RIA Novosti reported, citing RWB, the marketplace’s parent company. Sales value increased 60% over the period.

The comparisons cover different periods: M.Video measured Q2 against Q1, while Wildberries compared H1 with the same period of 2025. Neither company released unit totals.

Hardware wallets keep the private keys needed to control crypto on a dedicated device, instead of an internet-connected service, helping reduce exposure risk.

Russian law does not ban non-custodial wallets or treat them as illegal, lawyers told RBC. It does, however, bar withdrawals from Russian digital depositories to personal wallets, though a transition period runs until July 1, 2027.

Demand for US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) surged this week, according to Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas, reviving a narrative that had gone quiet after months of more inconsistent buying. At the same time, a recent security incident tied to Coldcard has put crypto self-custody back under the spotlight—an issue that some ETF investors may be weighing more carefully.

Balchunas said Saturday that the spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in roughly $1 billion in net inflows for the week. He described it as the funds’ strongest performance since April and the third-best week since last October, when he referred to the phenomenon as Bitcoin’s “silent IPO.”

Key takeaways

• Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas reports about $1 billion in weekly net inflows for US spot Bitcoin ETFs, the strongest since April.
• Balchunas framed the earlier October period as Bitcoin’s “silent IPO,” suggesting ETFs can pull in institutional-style demand without obvious market fanfare.
• A widely discussed Coldcard hardware wallet hack—connected to about $116 million stolen—has reignited concerns around the security burdens of self-custody.
• Balchunas said the hack could support the case for spot ETFs among investors wary of technical custody responsibilities, though he stressed the link is not proven.

Spot ETF inflows rebound after a softer stretch

The renewed buying matters because it helps clarify what has been happening beneath the surface of Bitcoin’s price action. Even when new capital enters through ETFs, the relationship to spot market momentum can be muted if supply is being sold off concurrently—something that investors have been trying to explain over recent months.

Balchunas tied this week’s momentum to the contrast with prior periods. In his view, earlier demand dynamics contributed to a broader “changing of the guard,” where earlier Bitcoin holders increasingly monetized positions as ETF and other institutional inflows grew. He linked this to the term popularized by investor Jordi Visser in November: Bitcoin’s “silent IPO.”

The phrase captures an idea that the ETF ramp behaves less like a noisy retail mania and more like a steady institutional distribution channel—keeping Bitcoin from reacting dramatically while significant flows accumulate.

In that context, the standout feature of this week is not simply that inflows turned positive, but that they represent the strongest showing since April and rank among the best weekly results since last October. That suggests the ETF pipeline is capable of re-accelerating, even if the broader period has been uneven.

Coldcard hack revives the self-custody debate

While ETF flows grabbed attention, the week’s backdrop included a major security incident involving Coldcard, a Bitcoin hardware wallet from Coinkite. The exploit is reported to have led to the theft of roughly $116 million worth of Bitcoin, according to prior reporting that connected the theft to a vulnerability in how affected devices generated wallet keys. Attackers allegedly compromised funds by targeting wallets created using vulnerable firmware.

On Friday, Balchunas suggested the aftermath could influence investor behavior. In a discussion carried in a separate report, he argued that the security and technical responsibilities of self-custody may push some investors toward spot Bitcoin ETFs, particularly those who prefer to outsource custody and operational risk to traditional market structures.

Crucially, Balchunas framed the potential connection as speculative. He acknowledged that correlation does not prove causation. Still, he said, “long-term I can’t imagine there aren’t some who migrate over,” implying that even partial behavioral shifts—if they occur—could show up in ETF demand over time.

What investors should watch: flows, behavior, and persistence

This is where the story becomes more than a one-week data point. ETF inflows are typically driven by a mix of institutional allocation patterns, advisor workflows, and broader risk appetite. A temporary rebound can happen without signaling a structural turn. However, Balchunas’s framing of both the “silent IPO” period and the current resurgence suggests he believes the market is cycling between phases of strong demand and quieter distribution.

For traders and long-term allocators, the practical question is whether this week’s improvement marks a continuation or a rebound followed by another slowdown. The “strongest since April” and “third-best week since last October” descriptors indicate a meaningful spike relative to recent history, but the durability of that spike will depend on whether ongoing capital inflow stays steady.

Meanwhile, the Coldcard incident adds a different kind of variable: perceived operational risk. Hardware wallets are widely used precisely because they reduce exposure to exchange custody failures, but high-profile vulnerabilities can change how comfortable some investors feel handling keys themselves. Balchunas’s argument is that—over time—investors uncomfortable with custody mechanics may consider ETFs a simpler alternative.

Yet, it’s also possible that self-custody concerns are already priced into broader behavior, meaning the effect on ETF demand may be gradual rather than immediate. That makes future inflow trends the key test: if inflows keep outperforming earlier weeks consistently, the market impact of custody-related security narratives could become clearer.

Read together, the two threads—ETF demand rebounding and custody concerns resurfacing—underline a single theme: Bitcoin’s access channels are still evolving. Spot ETFs offer a regulated wrapper, while self-custody remains the route for those who want direct key control. The next phase will likely hinge on how quickly investors shift between those modes and whether ETF inflows sustain at elevated levels beyond this week.

Demand for US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rebounded sharply this week, signaling renewed investor appetite after months of uneven flows, even as uncertainty persists around digital asset regulation and the security of crypto self-custody.

On Saturday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the spot funds attracted roughly $1 billion in net inflows for the week, their strongest showing since April and third-best week since last October — a period he referred to as Bitcoin’s “silent IPO.”

Source: Eric Balchunas

The term was popularized by investor Jordi Visser in November to describe what he viewed as a changing of the guard among Bitcoin holders. Under the theory, early investors were selling into growing demand from ETFs and other institutional buyers, creating enough supply to keep Bitcoin subdued despite substantial new capital entering the market.

That distribution coincided with a deterioration in ETF flows compared with earlier periods of stronger demand, making this week’s rebound particularly notable.

Related: Bitcoin miners’ AI pivot loses Wall Street’s wow factor

Coldcard hack puts self-custody in focus

The rebound has also followed a major security incident involving Coldcard, a popular Bitcoin hardware wallet developed by Coinkite, that resulted in roughly $116 million worth of Bitcoin being stolen. The exploit was linked to a flaw in how affected devices generated wallet keys, allowing attackers to compromise funds held in wallets created using vulnerable firmware.

On Friday, Balchunas suggested the incident could ultimately strengthen the appeal of spot Bitcoin ETFs among investors who are uncomfortable with the technical and security responsibilities associated with self-custody. He pointed to the surge in ETF inflows following the hack as a potential, though unproven, link.

While acknowledging that correlation does not imply causation, Balchunas said, “long-term I can’t imagine there aren’t some who migrate over,” referring to investors potentially shifting from cold storage to ETFs.

Magazine: Do the Coldcard attacks mean all hardware wallets are now insecure?

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.

Demand for US spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) rebounded sharply this week, signaling renewed investor appetite after months of uneven flows, even as uncertainty persists around digital asset regulation and the security of crypto self-custody.

On Saturday, Bloomberg ETF analyst Eric Balchunas said the spot funds attracted roughly $1 billion in net inflows for the week, their strongest showing since April and third-best week since last October — a period he referred to as Bitcoin’s “silent IPO.”

Source: Eric Balchunas

The term was popularized by investor Jordi Visser in November to describe what he viewed as a changing of the guard among Bitcoin holders. Under the theory, early investors were selling into growing demand from ETFs and other institutional buyers, creating enough supply to keep Bitcoin subdued despite substantial new capital entering the market.

That distribution coincided with a deterioration in ETF flows compared with earlier periods of stronger demand, making this week’s rebound particularly notable.

Related: Bitcoin miners’ AI pivot loses Wall Street’s wow factor

Coldcard hack puts self-custody in focus

The rebound has also followed a major security incident involving Coldcard, a popular Bitcoin hardware wallet developed by Coinkite, that resulted in roughly $116 million worth of Bitcoin being stolen. The exploit was linked to a flaw in how affected devices generated wallet keys, allowing attackers to compromise funds held in wallets created using vulnerable firmware.

On Friday, Balchunas suggested the incident could ultimately strengthen the appeal of spot Bitcoin ETFs among investors who are uncomfortable with the technical and security responsibilities associated with self-custody. He pointed to the surge in ETF inflows following the hack as a potential, though unproven, link.

While acknowledging that correlation does not imply causation, Balchunas said, “long-term I can’t imagine there aren’t some who migrate over,” referring to investors potentially shifting from cold storage to ETFs.

Magazine: Do the Coldcard attacks mean all hardware wallets are now insecure?

Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.