Bitcoin Nears $64K as Interpol Busts Crypto Scheme and Congress Eyes Clarity Act

Bitcoin rebounded sharply this week, climbing 4.2% over seven days to nearly $64,000 despite an oil shock, a global bond selloff, and two rounds of U.S. strikes on Iran. According to CoinDesk, no crypto-native catalyst drove the move. Bitcoin absorbed the geopolitical turbulence and finished the week higher because Korean memory chips are in demand and the dollar posted its third consecutive weekly decline, pulling prices up alongside the semiconductor rally.

The broader market followed suit. The global crypto market cap reached $2.25 trillion on July 10, up 1.9% in 24 hours, with total trading volume at $60.3 billion. Bitcoin dominance held at 56.3%, while Ether, Dogecoin, Polkadot, and assets across the XRP Ledger Ecosystem also posted gains on the day.

Interpol Dismantles $122M Crypto Laundering Ring

On the enforcement front, Interpol announced the results of Operation First Light 2026, a sweeping international initiative spanning 97 countries that resulted in 5,811 arrests and the seizure of approximately $293M in illicit assets, along with the freezing of 31,014 bank accounts. Thai authorities arrested two suspects at the center of a romance fraud network whose associated cryptocurrency wallet processed more than $122.5M over a ten-month period. The suspects reportedly converted stolen funds into cryptocurrency and used cross-chain token swaps to obscure the assets' origins, with Interpol noting that social engineering schemes remain among the most significant global threats requiring close international cooperation.

Back in Washington, crypto regulation has replaced geopolitics as the market's primary focus. Lawmakers are preparing a revised version of the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, which sources say could be introduced as soon as next week when the Senate returns from recess on July 13.

The window is narrow: analysts broadly agree that if the CLARITY Act does not clear the Senate before the chamber disperses for August recess, its chances of becoming law in 2026 effectively collapse ahead of November midterm elections. Compounding the urgency, the SEC separately updated its 2026 rulemaking agenda to release its own Regulation Crypto proposal as early as this month, which would establish safe harbors and exemptions for DeFi and tokenized securities and could become the primary regulatory framework if Congress fails to act.