Bitcoin price held near $65,000 on Aug. 8, but its failure to reclaim the short-term holder cost basis left the recovery exposed to renewed selling.

Bitcoin price struggles to hold above $65,000

According to data from crypto.news, Bitcoin (BTC) price was trading near $65,015 at the time of writing after repeatedly testing the $65,000 area. The daily candle had traded between $64,784 and $65,075, showing limited volatility following the rebound from its late-July lows.

The price has recovered from an Aug. 2 low near $62,200, but sellers continue to defend the area immediately above $65,000. In an Aug. 8 X post, analyst Ted Pillows said Bitcoin had failed to establish a firm hold above that threshold.

“BTC failed to hold above the $65,000 level. Sellers are still active in this zone, and Bitcoin needs to reclaim it for stronger upside.”

The daily chart shows BTC trading above its 20-day and 50-day simple moving averages at $64,461 and $63,363, respectively. Those averages form an initial support zone between approximately $63,300 and $64,500.

Bitcoin remains below its 100-day SMA at $68,052 and its 200-day SMA at $70,295. That structure shows that the short-term recovery has not yet reversed the broader downtrend that began after BTC reached approximately $82,000 in May.

Short-term holders could sell near $67,523

CryptoQuant analyst Axel Adler Jr. said Bitcoin remained below the realized price of short-term holders, which measures the average acquisition price of coins held for less than 155 days.

As of Aug. 8, Adler placed the short-term holder realized price at $67,523, compared with a BTC spot price of $64,952. That left Bitcoin $2,571, or 3.8%, below the cost basis.

The gap was the narrowest since July 21, bringing more short-term holders closer to breakeven. Investors who bought above the current price may use a recovery toward $67,500 to reduce exposure without taking a large loss.

Adler said Bitcoin had closed below the short-term holder realized price during 279 of the previous 284 days. He expects selling pressure to increase as the market approaches the cost line.

“STHs will start dumping into the market to close their positions at breakeven.”

The forecast is not guaranteed, but the cost basis creates a visible resistance area. Bitcoin would need to absorb potential holder selling and establish support above $67,523 to improve the medium-term structure.

BTC technical indicators favor a $65,250 test

The 4-hour chart offers a more constructive short-term picture. Bitcoin is trading above the Bollinger Band midline at $64,647 and close to the upper band at $65,257.

A 4-hour close above the upper band could support a move toward $65,600, followed by $66,000. The next major resistance would sit around the short-term holder cost basis between $67,500 and $67,600.

The relative strength index stood at 61.83, above its moving average of 59.25. That reading shows buyers currently have the momentum advantage without pushing BTC into overbought territory.

Momentum on the daily timeframe remains less decisive. Aroon Up stood at 50%, while Aroon Down was at 14.29%. The difference favors buyers, but the moderate Aroon Up reading does not yet confirm a strong daily uptrend.

BTC must first turn $65,000 into support and clear the $65,250–$65,600 range. A rejection could send the price back toward the Bollinger midline at $64,647, followed by the lower band at $64,037.

A deeper decline would expose $63,360, where the daily 50-day SMA is located. Pillows identified a broader demand zone near $62,000–$63,000, with further support around $59,000 if that area fails.

Liquidation heatmap shows pressure on both sides

CoinGlass’ one-week liquidation heatmap shows leveraged positions concentrated above and below Bitcoin’s current price.

The nearest major upside cluster appears around $65,500–$65,700. A move through that zone could liquidate short positions and accelerate a test of $66,000. Additional liquidity is visible above $66,000, although the concentration is weaker.

Larger downside clusters are located around $63,700–$63,900 and close to $63,000. These areas could attract price if Bitcoin loses the 4-hour Bollinger midline and the $64,000 level.

This positioning leaves BTC between competing liquidity pools. A breakout above $65,600 would favor a short squeeze, while a loss of $64,000 could pull the market toward the denser downside clusters.

For U.S. investors, the weekend move will occur while spot Bitcoin ETFs and CME futures are closed. Any sharp breakout before Monday could therefore produce a gap between Bitcoin’s continuously traded spot market and the reopening of regulated U.S. products.

The immediate bias remains mildly bullish while BTC holds above $64,000. However, the short-term holder cost basis at $67,523 and the long-term moving averages above $68,000 remain major barriers to a broader recovery.

The U.S. Senate has initiated the process for considering the CLARITY Act, setting up an initial procedural vote after lawmakers return from their August recess.

CLARITY Act moves toward September vote

Senate Majority Leader John Thune submitted the motion after a late-night voting session, according to reports released Saturday. The timing prevented the Senate from holding a procedural vote before lawmakers began their August recess.

The filing nevertheless allows leadership to place the crypto market structure bill near the front of the Senate’s September agenda. Senators are expected to return to Washington on Sept. 14.

Thune had previously confirmed that the chamber would not vote on the legislation before the recess but said leaders intended to prepare it for action upon their return.

“We’re getting that queued up first thing when we come back,” Thune said in a statement reported before the recess.

An initial vote would concern whether the Senate should proceed with consideration of the legislation. It would not amount to final passage. Senators would still need to debate the bill, consider amendments and hold a separate vote on approving the final text.

Unresolved disputes could block progress

The procedural filing does not indicate that Republicans and Democrats have reached an agreement on the provisions that delayed the August vote.

Lawmakers remain divided over ethics restrictions covering government officials’ crypto interests, enforcement powers, illicit-finance safeguards and stablecoin rewards. Democrats have sought stronger conflict-of-interest rules and additional consumer protections.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren has said she supports federal crypto legislation but opposes the current CLARITY Act. She cited concerns involving government corruption, consumer protection, national security and financial stability.

Stablecoin rewards remain another major obstacle. Banking groups have pushed lawmakers to restrict payments offered for holding stablecoins, arguing that such products could pull deposits from traditional banks. Crypto companies maintain that broader restrictions could reduce competition.

The current compromise would restrict passive yield paid solely for holding stablecoins while allowing certain rewards tied to customer activity. crypto.news previously reported that changes to these rules could affect Coinbase’s USDC rewards business, which generates an estimated $1.35 billion in annual revenue.

Bill would divide SEC and CFTC authority

The CLARITY Act would establish a federal framework for determining when digital assets fall under the authority of the Securities and Exchange Commission or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The House passed an earlier version of the bill by a 294–134 vote in July 2025. The Senate Banking Committee later advanced its version 15–9 in May 2026, with Republicans joined by Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks.

However, clearing the committee did not guarantee sufficient support on the Senate floor. Thune would generally need 60 votes to invoke cloture and limit debate, requiring support from several Democrats.

Without the legislation, U.S. crypto companies would continue operating under the existing combination of SEC and CFTC oversight, court decisions and state-level requirements.

Crypto markets hold steady after Senate filing

Bitcoin traded near $64,980 on Saturday, up about 0.4%, after moving between approximately $64,507 and $65,312.

Crypto-related stocks also finished Friday higher. Coinbase closed at $153.60, gaining about 5.7%, while Circle ended the session at $66.67, up roughly 5.4%. Those moves followed broader market trading and cannot be attributed solely to the Senate development.

The next test will come when senators return in September. Lawmakers must settle the remaining policy disputes and secure enough bipartisan support before the bill can advance beyond its initial procedural vote.

A wallet linked to the Aztec Private Rollup Bridge exploit deposited another 300 ETH into Tornado Cash, bringing its total transfers to the mixer to 500 ETH.

Aztec exploiter deposits 300 ETH into Tornado Cash

Blockchain security firm PeckShield reported on Aug. 8 that an address labeled as the Aztec Private Rollup Bridge exploiter deposited 300 Ether into Tornado Cash.

The ETH was worth approximately $572,000 when PeckShield issued the alert. On-chain data included in the firm’s report showed three separate deposits of 100 ETH each.

PeckShield said the latest transactions raised the wallet’s cumulative Tornado Cash deposits to 500 ETH. Based on the valuation attached to its alert, the total was worth roughly $953,000 at press time.

Tornado Cash pools deposits and allows users to withdraw funds through different addresses. This process can obscure the direct connection between the original sending wallet and subsequent recipients, making asset tracking and recovery more difficult.

PeckShield did not identify the person or group controlling the address. There was also no immediate indication that any of the transferred funds had been recovered.

Private Rollup Bridge lost $2.165 million

The latest transfers relate to an exploit that affected Aztec’s Private Rollup Bridge in June. Reports at the time placed the loss at approximately $2.165 million.

The stolen assets reportedly included 1,158 ETH, 150,000 DAI and 0.47 renBTC. Aztec said the affected bridge was a legacy product with no connection to the current Aztec network or its AZTEC token.

The Private Rollup Bridge incident followed a separate attack on Aztec Connect, another discontinued part of the project’s earlier infrastructure.

As crypto.news previously reported, an attacker drained around $2.1 million from Aztec Connect’s old RollupProcessor contract on June 14. The affected system had been discontinued about three years earlier and was no longer used by Aztec’s active network.

Security researchers said that the exploit involved a mismatch between the transactions covered by a zero-knowledge proof and those processed during settlement. The weakness allowed the attacker to create unbacked balances and withdraw assets from the contract.

Aztec Labs could not pause or upgrade the deprecated contract because it had surrendered its administrative keys. The design made the contract immutable but also removed the team’s ability to intervene after the flaw was exploited.

Tornado Cash transfers follow wider exploit surge

The two Aztec incidents formed part of a wider increase in crypto security breaches during June.

Crypto.news reported that DefiLlama recorded $74.9 million in losses across 29 exploits during the month. Its data included two separate Aztec incidents valued at approximately $2.1 million each.

Other exploiters have also used Tornado Cash to move stolen assets. In July, a wallet associated with the Drift Protocol exploit deposited 23,095 ETH, then worth around $44.4 million, into the mixer after months of inactivity.

A wallet linked to the Radiant Capital attack previously transferred 2,834 ETH into Tornado Cash, while the Cork Protocol exploiter routed approximately 4,520 ETH through the service.

The latest Aztec deposits therefore follow an established pattern in which attackers convert stolen assets into ETH before sending them through mixing protocols.

Tornado Cash remains under US scrutiny

The U.S. Treasury removed Tornado Cash and associated smart-contract addresses from its sanctions list in March 2025. The decision followed a federal appeals court ruling that the Treasury exceeded its authority by sanctioning immutable smart contracts.

However, U.S. authorities have continued to examine the use of crypto mixers in money laundering, sanctions evasion and cybercrime cases. Treasury officials have also maintained concerns about their use by North Korea-linked hacking groups.

The 500 ETH transferred by the Aztec exploiter represents less than half of the value reportedly taken from the Private Rollup Bridge. Further activity from the labeled address could show whether the remaining assets will also be routed through Tornado Cash or moved to other services.

The U.S. Senate is finally leaping into the first procedural votes on the crypto Digital Assets Market Clarity Act, after the leadership moved early Saturday to start official floor action on the crypto market structure bill, marking the farthest progress yet for the industry’s central policy effort.

But this key advance announced after a marathon overnight voting session comes after the bill has missed its window to get a vote before the Senate’s summer break, leaving it in a long-shot position to get approval in September. Though the Clarity Act’s chances are hanging by a thread, it would likely have been declared dead for 2026 without at least this first important movement.

“We, the undersigned senators … hereby move to bring to a close debate on the motion to proceed to calendar number 423, [House Resolution] 3633, an act to provide for a system of regulation of the offer and sale of digital commodities by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and so forth and for other purposes,” the clerk said reading the filing.