Who needs CLARITY anyway? ARB could see 70X increase: Hodler’s Digest

After months of buildup, the US Senate failed to secure cloture on the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, with the motion receiving 49 votes in favor and 50 against — well short of the 60 needed to advance the bill. Republican Senator Thom Tillis cast a late-stage “no” vote but indicated he switched positions to preserve the ability to call a new vote later. Observers and some lawmakers noted the narrow margin leaves a possibility of revival, but limited legislative days and political timing make passage before the next Congress unlikely. In the immediate aftermath, federal regulators moved to provide market direction in the absence of new legislation. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced a five-year Innovation Exemption permitting limited trading of tokenized US stocks on decentralized public blockchains using automated market makers, while excluding ‘‘synthetic’’ stock tokens that do not confer full shareholder rights — a restriction that affects previously issued tokens from providers such as xStocks and Robinhood. Two days later the Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a no-action position for ‘‘passive software’’ providers that connect users to regulated derivatives firms, lowering the risk of enforcement for qualifying services that do not register as brokers. The CFTC also submitted draft rules titled ‘‘Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets’’ to the White House; the submission is at the prerule stage and has not been formally proposed. Market participants also filed applications reflecting the changing regulatory landscape: Coinbase submitted an application to the CFTC for 24/5 perpetual futures trading on individual US stocks, and Kalshi filed a similar proposal. On the legislative front, the House Financial Services Committee advanced the American Reserve Modernization Act of 2026, which would codify the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve established by executive order and create a Digital Asset Stockpile at the Treasury for forfeited cryptocurrencies. The bill would require federal agencies to audit digital assets they hold and produce quarterly proof-of-reserve reports, and it directs a study into budget-neutral strategies for acquiring additional Bitcoin. Separately, the House Ways and Means Committee passed the Digital Asset Tax Certainty Act with bipartisan support. Market and security developments also featured prominently: Revolut reported theft of customer data including passports and KYC selfies, prompting ransom demands from two different actors — one publicly requesting 6,000 Monero (about $3 million) and an earlier demand for 10,000 Bitcoin (around $780 million) from another group. Market movers for the week included Bitcoin trading up 5.9% to $81,185 and Ethereum up 6.6% to $2,639; among the top 100 tokens, NEAR led gains with 76.4% and Arbitrum gained 64.3%. In a separate market forecast, Standard Chartered’s digital assets research team projected Arbitrum’s token could reach as high as $10 by 2030, which the bank characterized as roughly a 70-fold increase from current levels; the source excerpt did not include additional comment from the bank’s analyst.