Bitcoin Slides on Mideast Tensions as Congress and Hackers Both Eye Crypto

Bitcoin fell roughly 3% to around $62,201 on June 19 after Israel launched renewed airstrikes across southern Lebanon, prompting Iran to cancel its peace delegation to Switzerland and wiping out what remained of a prior market bounce. The sell-off marked a fourth consecutive down day for Bitcoin, with smart-contract and DeFi tokens leading broader losses as geopolitical uncertainty overwhelmed any bullish momentum in the market.

Sentiment was further weighed down by continued pressure on Strategy's dividend-paying preferred stock, STRC, which has dominated crypto market conversation for days. Forced selling from leveraged investors pushed both STRC and a related instrument sharply lower before a partial rebound, according to Strive CEO Matt Cole, who attributed the digital credit market selloff to leverage liquidations rather than fundamental deterioration.

Congress Pushes Landmark Crypto Market Structure Bill Forward

On the regulatory front, the CLARITY Act cleared a major hurdle when the Senate Banking Committee advanced it by a 15-9 vote in May, with all 13 Republicans joined by two Democrats. The bill, championed by firms including Coinbase, Circle, and Ripple, would grant the CFTC exclusive jurisdiction over digital commodity spot markets while preserving SEC oversight of investment contract assets. Senate Banking Chair Tim Scott argued the crypto industry had been stuck in a regulatory gray zone for too long, leaving developers and investors facing confusion and enforcement actions instead of clear rules.

By June 1, a revised version of the bill was published and placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders, making it formally eligible for a full Senate floor vote. Two Democratic committee supporters signaled their votes did not guarantee floor backing, leaving an ethics provision covering government officials' ties to the crypto industry as a key sticking point still to be resolved before passage.

Separately, Microsoft disclosed it had identified malware that hijacks crypto wallets and spreads through USB sticks by intercepting shortcut files to install a worm. The malicious software harvests private keys directly from the Windows clipboard and substitutes its own destination wallet addresses the moment it detects a transfer in progress, putting any Windows user who handles crypto at risk without knowing it.