Senate vote failure and rising Treasury yields weigh on crypto ahead of Fed decision
Bitcoin fell below $75,000 on September 15 after the Senate failed to advance the CLARITY Act, falling short of the 60-vote cloture threshold required to proceed. The chamber voted 49-50 on the measure, which would have provided regulatory clarity for digital assets.
The price decline extended a broader selloff in crypto-linked equities. Coinbase dropped roughly 10%, while Circle lost more than 11%, with heavier losses concentrated in U.S. crypto businesses exposed to federal regulation.
Betting markets reflected growing uncertainty around the bill’s prospects. Polymarket odds for CLARITY passage fell from 31% to 19% ahead of the vote, signaling diminished expectations among traders.
Macro headwinds compounded the weakness. The 10-year Treasury yield climbed to 5.041%, its highest level since 2007, tightening financial conditions for risk assets. Brent crude traded above $105, adding inflation pressure before the Federal Reserve’s policy decision scheduled for September 16.
According to a Reuters poll, 85% of economists expect a 25-basis-point Fed rate increase, raising the target range to 3.75% to 4.00%. Morgan Stanley expects another quarter-point rate move in December. Some economists now expect at least one additional rate increase beyond September.
Bitcoin’s intraday low of $75,000 broke through prior support in the $76,300 to $76,600 zone. CryptoQuant places the 200-day moving average around $70,000. A deeper long-term-holder accumulation zone sits in the $62,000 to $65,000 range, where long-term holders accumulated roughly 476,000 BTC this year.
Long-term holders sold as much as 539,000 BTC in the $77,100 to $80,200 region during a 30-day period this year, suggesting distribution at higher levels. Bitcoin’s market cap stood at $1.53 trillion with 24-hour volume at $37.75 billion.
