Ethics Deal Revives CLARITY Vote Odds

Here are the biggest stories in crypto and DeFi:

The crypto market-structure bill has spent months stuck on a single sticking point: an ethics provision. A reported deal to settle it sent prices higher.

Crypto prices climbed on Tuesday, with bitcoin reclaiming $66,000, after reports that the White House circulated agreed-upon ethics-provision language to Senate Republicans. The deal would remove the main obstacle that had stalled the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, reviving the odds of a floor vote before the August recess.

Markets are pricing the calendar here. A settled ethics provision clears the procedural blocker, but a floor vote before recess is a tight window, and the SEC-CFTC split still has to survive the text. The rally says traders now believe the bill has a real path this session — the follow-through is the vote itself.

Read more below!

PARTNER

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REGULATION

Crypto Rallies as Reported Ethics Deal Revives Odds of CLARITY Act Senate Vote

Crypto prices climbed on Tuesday, with bitcoin back above $66,000, after reports that the White House circulated agreed-upon ethics-provision language to Senate Republicans. The deal removes the main obstacle that had stalled the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, reviving the odds of a floor vote before the August recess.

Crypto Rallies as Reported Ethics Deal Revives Odds of CLARITY Act Senate VoteCrypto prices climbed on Tuesday after reports that the White House had reached agreement on the ethics provision that had stalled the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act in the Senate, reviving the odds of a floor vote before Congress breaks for its August recess.thedefiant.io

Why this matters: The ethics provision was the last procedural blocker, so a deal puts market structure within reach this session. The rally is traders pricing a real path to a vote.

PARTNER

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BLOCKCHAINS

Durov Says Telegram Will Ship Native Gram Wallet to a Billion Users

Pavel Durov said Telegram will roll out a native, non-custodial Gram wallet to its more than 1 billion users this summer, putting private-key custody inside the core app and promising instant, zero-fee transactions.

Why this matters: No self-custody wallet has had distribution at this scale. Shipping keys to a billion inboxes could onboard more users in a quarter than crypto has in years, if they opt in.

BLOCKCHAINS

Movement Labs Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

MVMT Labs, the developer behind the Movement blockchain and its MOVE token, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, listing up to $10 million in liabilities. The filing caps a year of governance disputes, a market-making scandal, and a failed strategic pivot.

Why this matters: A funded, high-profile L1 developer going bankrupt is a marker for the cycle's shakeout. Token launch and hype no longer cover for a broken business underneath.

TRADFI AND FINTECH

S&P and Pantera Launch Revenue-Screened Digital Asset Index

S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index, an 18-token benchmark that excludes bitcoin and meme coins and screens for protocols with positive revenue verified by onchain data.

Why this matters: A mainstream index provider building a revenue screen treats tokens like cash-flowing businesses. It is a quiet push to value crypto on fundamentals over narrative.

DEFI

Morpho Launches Fixed-Rate Lending Protocol Midnight on Base

Morpho launched Midnight, a fixed-rate, fixed-term credit protocol, on Base, alongside a new Markets App that lets users set their own rates and terms, with more networks to follow.

Why this matters: Fixed-rate, fixed-term is what institutions and fintechs need to build products on DeFi lending. Morpho keeps turning itself into the credit rail others quietly run on.