Bitcoin Breaks Above $66,000 on Hopes for Clarity Act Progress, Rebound in Asian Chip Stocks

Bitcoin rose above $66,000, lifted by hopes for progress on the Clarity Act, a US crypto market-structure bill, and by a rebound in Asian semiconductor shares.

CoinDesk reported on July 21 that Bitcoin gained 3.5% over the past 24 hours to break above $66,000, its highest level in more than a month. Major tokens including Ether, BNB and XRP climbed even more, while the CoinDesk DeFi Select Index jumped 9%.

The advance was partly driven by signs of movement on an ethics provision that has been a key sticking point in the Clarity Act's Senate process. Earlier, Crypto In America host Eleanor Terrett wrote on X that the White House had agreed to the bill's core ethics language and that the wording had been shared with Senate Republicans.

The ethics provision has been one of the main obstacles to Senate passage of the Clarity Act. The bill would clearly distinguish digital commodities from securities and put into law a crypto regulatory framework that has largely been shaped by enforcement actions.

A rebound in AI-related semiconductor stocks across Asian markets also supported appetite for risk assets. Last week's selloff in chip shares had weighed on crypto markets, but the sector's recovery on July 21 helped revive broader risk sentiment.

Traders are now watching $68,000 as Bitcoin's next threshold. Alex Kuptsikevich, chief market analyst at FxPro, said the area around $68,000 marks the 61.8% Fibonacci retracement of the May-to-June decline. A sustained move above that level would provide another signal of a bullish trend reversal.

Derivatives markets are also showing signs that traders are joining the rebound. Open interest in Bitcoin futures rose to 770,000 BTC from below 750,000 BTC a day earlier, suggesting fresh money is entering the market alongside the price gain. Ether futures showed a similar pattern, while open interest in XRP and Solana futures changed little.

Volatility gauges, however, point to caution over how durable the rebound may be. CoinDesk said BVIV, Bitcoin's 30-day implied volatility index, has stopped falling despite the price increase, with some investors using options to hedge during the rally.