Bitcoin rallied above $67,000 on Tuesday, fueled by renewed optimism over U.S. crypto regulation after Scott Bessent indicated the Clarity Act was close to passing. The news also sent Coinbase shares sharply higher.
The rally came as Wall Street futures traded cautiously ahead of quarterly earnings from Tesla and Alphabet. Asian markets were mixed, with South Korea's Kospi jumping over 5% while Hong Kong dipped. U.S. stocks had snapped a three-day losing streak the previous session, lifted by strong results from 3M and General Motors and a semiconductor rebound.
Bitcoin later consolidated near $66,300 on Wednesday, with $31 billion in 24-hour trading volume, as the tech rally lost steam. Ether traded around $1,935, and XRP added 2% to $1.14. The crypto market has recently tracked the semiconductor sector more closely than currency moves, though some holders pointed to the yen's slide past 163 per dollar—its weakest since 1986—as supporting the case for fixed-supply assets.
Market attention remained on the U.S.-Iran conflict, which entered its eleventh day, keeping oil prices elevated and raising inflation concerns. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the cost had reached $37.5 billion.
