Bitcoin Hits $80,000 as Trump Pushes the CLARITY Act Through the Senate

What has happened?

Bitcoin touched $80,000 on Tuesday, its highest level since mid-May. The trigger traces back to a White House meeting six days earlier, and the market has kept building on it since.

On 19 August, President Trump hosted crypto executives from Coinbase, Kraken, Ripple, Gemini and Chainlink Labs at the White House, alongside the heads of the SEC, CFTC and NYSE. He called on the Senate to pass a fair version of the CLARITY Act, describing it as the gateway to the next wave of digital asset innovation and a way to keep America ahead of China.

The market didn't wait for Congress to act. Bitcoin jumped more than 11% in two days to $71,834, Ether rose over 18% to $2,261, and roughly $2.7 billion in short positions were liquidated as traders scrambled to cover. The same day, the US Treasury doubled its long-duration bond buybacks, which pulled yields down and pushed money into riskier assets across the board. Both forces hit at once, so splitting out how much came from Trump's push versus the bond market move isn't straightforward.

The rally kept building. Bitcoin closed out that first week up 22%, from around $62,800 to $76,944 on Friday 21 August, its biggest weekly gain in more than three years. It cooled slightly over the weekend, then touched $80,000 briefly on Monday 24 August before pulling back to the high $78,000s. On Tuesday 25 August it pushed through again, climbing as high as $81,257 in Asian trading, its highest level since 15 May. Whether it holds above $80,000 is still an open question. Total short liquidations across the rally have now passed $4 billion. Ether is trading above $2,500, up close to 32% for the week. XRP has gained over 51% and Solana over 28% in the same stretch.

India Crypto Research's dashboard on 25 August shows Bitcoin at $80,752, up 0.85% on the day and 23.03% over 7 days, with Ethereum, BNB, and Lido DAO also posting strong weekly gains.

What the CLARITY Act actually does

The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act splits crypto oversight between two regulators. The CFTC gets primary authority over spot markets in digital commodities, the category covering mature, decentralised networks like bitcoin and ethereum. The SEC keeps jurisdiction over centralised token offerings that behave more like securities. The bill already cleared the House 294-134 back in July 2025, and the Senate Banking Committee passed its version 15-9 in May 2026. Since then, it has been stuck, with Republicans and Democrats still disagreeing over an ethics provision in the text.

This isn't law yet. The Senate left for its August recess without scheduling a vote, and passage odds on Polymarket sit around 17%, down from above 80% in February. The bill now faces a procedural cloture vote on 15 September. If it fails to clear that hurdle, the bill is widely expected to be shelved until 2027, with midterm election politics eating up whatever legislative time is left this year.

What's actually moving the price
 

Bitcoin's price path from 18 to 25 August 2026, built from verified data points cited in CNBC, Bloomberg, Forbes, and CoinDesk reporting.

Analysts point to three things working together. Trump's public endorsement reduced regulatory uncertainty even without a law on the books. The Treasury's buyback programme eased pressure on longer-term yields and freed up capital for risk assets. Spot bitcoin ETFs pulled in $1.92 billion in net inflows last week alone, the biggest weekly haul since October.

Bitcoin's daily RSI is sitting above 80, deep into overbought territory, and the asset is still trading roughly 35% below its October 2025 high near $126,000. Support has held near $75,000 to $76,000 on recent pullbacks. Upside targets vary by analyst. Fundstrat points to $82,000 to $87,000, Hashdex says a break above $83,000 could put $100,000 in play, and Standard Chartered has floated $100,000 by year-end.

The 15 September vote is the date that decides where this goes next. A clean cloture vote keeps alive the six-figure bitcoin targets several forecasters have floated. A failed vote and this entire rally is running on hope that never turns into law. Either way, six days of price action already show how badly the market wants this bill passed.

Source : 
Data as of 25 August 2026. Prices and figures sourced from Bloomberg, CNBC, CoinDesk, Forbes, and Polymarket's live market data, alongside India Crypto Research's own market dashboard.