Bitcoin Slides Below $70K as Senate Eyes CLARITY Act and Coinbase Wins Futures Approval

Bitcoin opened June under heavy pressure, with prices tumbling to around $67,088 on Tuesday morning as investors rotated away from risk assets. Spot Bitcoin ETFs recorded $1.42 billion in outflows as sentiment turned risk-off, with analysts citing stronger performance in competing sectors such as artificial intelligence as a driver of the capital flight. The total crypto market cap sits near $2.46 trillion, while Ethereum slipped to roughly $1,921 in midday trading Monday.

On the regulatory front, the CLARITY Act is entering what industry leaders are calling its most consequential stretch. Senator Tim Scott and Galaxy CEO Mike Novogratz have both framed June as a defining month for U.S. crypto policy, with a final Senate vote on the market structure bill potentially imminent. The legislation would settle the long-running jurisdictional dispute between the SEC and the CFTC, and industry experts estimate a 50% to 60% chance it clears Congress before the November midterms. Passage would cement clearer rules for digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers operating across the country.

CFTC Clears Coinbase to Offer Perpetual Futures

In a landmark derivatives ruling, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission greenlit Coinbase Global to offer crypto perpetual futures, making it the first U.S. exchange granted direct access to the offshore derivatives market. The exchange will connect American customers to Deribit, the crypto options platform Coinbase acquired last year for $2.9 billion. The CFTC has broadly cleared Coinbase to list any digital commodity perpetual contracts currently traded on Deribit, a category that covers Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other major tokens.

In a simultaneous move, the CFTC also authorized prediction market Kalshi to launch the first American-born Bitcoin perpetual futures, signaling a sweeping expansion of regulated crypto derivatives products in the United States. Analysts say the combination of congressional momentum on market structure and expanded CFTC-sanctioned products could draw significant institutional capital back into the space, provided macro headwinds ease. With Friday's U.S. jobs report looming and whale sell pressure mounting, traders are watching the $65,000 support level closely as the near-term line in the sand for Bitcoin.