Bitcoin has scaled $120,000 for the first time, a major milestone for the world’s largest cryptocurrency in the run-up to what could be a landmark week.
Starting July 14, “Crypto Week” will see the US House of Representatives debate three industry-friendly bills that are likely to provide cryptocurrencies with the US regulatory framework that crypto insiders have long demanded.
US President Donald Trump has urged policymakers to revamp their rules, away from the plethora of lawsuits brought against crypto firms by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under former President Joe Biden (2021-2025), in favour of the industry.
Expectations of further tailwinds helped propel Bitcoin, up 29 percent so far this year, to a record high of $122,055 on Monday. Bitcoin, the very first cryptocurrency, began trading in January 2009, when it was valued at just $0.004.
The surge has sparked a broader rally across other cryptocurrencies as Ether, the world’s second-most popular token, reached a five-month high of $3,048.2 on Monday.
More generally, the sector’s total market value has swelled to roughly $3.8 trillion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Cryptocurrencies are a form of monetary exchange that allows people to bypass central banks and traditional payment methods.
What is at stake?
US lawmakers will discuss three key pieces of legislation during “Crypto Week”:
- The GENIUS Act aims to clarify when digital assets like crypto tokens are considered securities or commodities, helping startups avoid legal uncertainty by providing clear regulatory rules. The Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stablecoins (GENIUS) Act has already passed the Senate.
- The Clarity Act would block federal agencies from using court rulings to overextend regulatory power, ensuring that Congress – and not courts – defines how crypto assets are classified and governed.
- The Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act would prohibit the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC), arguing it could enable government surveillance of Americans’ financial activity and threaten individual privacy.
This marks a sharp reversal for a sector that once threatened to do its business outside the US, citing a hostile environment and heavy-handed enforcement.
Crypto companies have long accused US financial regulators (like the SEC) of enacting confusing or conflicting rules.
“We expect capital that was previously sidelined due to regulatory uncertainty to re-enter … even if final passage stalls,” Jag Kooner, head of derivatives at Bitfinex crypto exchange, told Reuters.
This week’s decisions could make it easier for companies to launch new digital asset products and to trade in crypto.
Does the proposed legislation have critics?
Democrats are expected to offer amendments to the GENIUS and Clarity Acts.
Critics have argued that the Trump administration is conceding too much ground to the crypto industry.
“I’m concerned that what my Republican colleagues are aiming for is another industry handout,” Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said on July 9 at a Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee hearing.
She urged Congress to bar public officials, including Trump, from issuing, backing or profiting from crypto tokens.
Warren also argued that new crypto rules should not “open a back door to destroy” longtime securities laws, or allow volatility in the crypto market to spill over into the traditional financial system.
Finally, she underscored that anti-money laundering rules should apply to the industry. Crypto users are identified by alphanumeric wallet addresses, not their names, allowing bad actors to obscure the source of their illicit funds.
The Biden administration adopted a tough regulatory stance towards cryptocurrencies, aiming to oversee the digital assets as securities subject to the same regulations as stocks and bonds.
(Al Jazeera)
What’s Trump’s interest in crypto?
Trump, once a crypto sceptic, became a major promoter during his presidential campaign last year, even becoming the first major-party presidential candidate to accept campaign donations via crypto.
During the 2024 campaign, crypto insiders spent nearly a quarter of a billion dollars, according to Federal Election Commission data, in support of crypto allies – and to try and weed out antagonists.
In March, Trump said he would create a crypto reserve that would include five cryptocurrencies (including Bitcoin), adding he would make the US “the crypto capital of the world”.
Meanwhile, Trump’s family business has launched several cryptocurrency meme coins, flash-in-the-pan assets inspired by internet jokes or cultural references, such as $Trump and $Melania.
Trump has faced criticism over conflicts of interest regarding his family’s ventures. For instance, World Liberty Financial – a crypto group backed by Trump and his sons in 2024 – has earned the president $57m.
Elsewhere, Trump Media & Technology Group filed paperwork with the SEC in July seeking approval to launch its own “Crypto Blue-Chip ETF”, an exchange-traded fund holding Bitcoin and other digital currencies.
How has Bitcoin performed since Trump was re-elected?
If Bitcoin were a country, it would rank in the top 10 by gross domestic product, roughly on par with countries like Brazil ($2.17 trillion) and Canada ($2.14 trillion).
Since Donald Trump’s re-election in November 2024, Bitcoin has surged by 75 percent, rising from about $69,539 at close on Election Day to its current record level. It rallied to above $100,000 for the first time last December.
The cryptocurrency briefly dropped below $90,000 on February 25, amid market jitters triggered by Trump’s announcement of new tariffs on multiple countries and industries worldwide, before recovering after Trump’s “crypto reserve” announcement.
Bitcoin’s rise also arrives amid a wider backdrop of economic uncertainty, notably the global turmoil from Trump’s steep – and on-again, off-again – tariffs imposed on key trading partners worldwide, in addition to ongoing conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.
“Bitcoin has shown resilience this year, rebounding in line with its macro exposures following tariff announcements,” Citibank analysts wrote in a research paper last week.