The cryptocurrency market closed the week higher despite a late dip, with Bitcoin gaining 4.16% and total market capitalization climbing 2.30% to $2.22 trillion. The recovery came even as U.S. equities softened—the S&P 500 lost 0.53%—and a series of bridge attacks and an exchange shutdown reminded traders of operational risks.
On the final trading day, however, selling pressure returned for large-cap tokens. Bitcoin slipped 0.5% to $65,388.61 on $25.26 billion in volume. Ethereum fell 2.1% to $1,885.46, XRP dropped 2.3% to $1.11, Solana declined 2.3% to $75.75, and Dogecoin suffered the steepest decline among major assets, down 4.6% to $0.06921. In contrast, Rootstock Infrastructure Framework (RIF) surged 37.1% to $0.1119, leading a broader rotation into smaller-cap tokens.
Policy news provided the primary backdrop. Senator Cynthia Lummis released an updated draft of the CLARITY Act on July 22, merging work from the Senate Banking and Agriculture committees. The bill assigns regulatory duties, establishes stablecoin rules, and includes developer protections, but faces pushback from Senator Elizabeth Warren over ethics and enforcement language. Lummis called the coming weeks the “last real chance” to pass the legislation, and prediction-market odds of passage improved despite the political gridlock.
Infrastructure risks resurfaced when bridge attacks drained $24.15 million from AFX Trade after attackers obtained validator signatures, while Allbridge lost $1.65 million in a flash-loan exploit on Solana. Both projects paused operations. Elsewhere, BitMEX announced it would shut down on September 23, ending an 11-year run that helped popularize perpetual swaps.
Institutional moves offered a counter-narrative. Crypto.com secured a $400 million investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation, aiming to build a 24/7 tokenized‑securities platform. S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, and xStocks expanded tokenized equity exposure to Hong Kong stocks.
The week combined a market rebound with unresolved policy talks, security failures, and strategic infrastructure bets. Traders will now watch the CLARITY Act’s Senate path and any further fallout from bridge exploits.
