Bitcoin is trading at $64,076 Saturday morning after a rough stretch driven by geopolitical nerves and rising U.S. bond yields. The week ended on an unsteady note.
Iran Fears Hit ETFs Hard
According to Decrypt, renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities rattled broader markets Thursday, sending Bitcoin briefly under $65,000 and triggering $225 million in Bitcoin ETF outflows — snapping a seven-day inflow streak. BlackRock's IBIT led the exodus. Cointelegraph added that surging U.S. Treasury yields simultaneously lifted expectations for another Federal Reserve rate hike, compounding the pressure on risk assets including Bitcoin.
Not every ETF product suffered equally. Bitcoin Magazine reports that Morgan Stanley's Bitcoin ETF is approaching $400 million in assets, having attracted fresh capital even as peers bled funds. That divergence suggests some institutional buyers are treating the dip selectively rather than abandoning the asset class entirely.
Clarity Act Stalls in the Senate
On the regulatory front, the crypto market structure bill known as the Clarity Act ran into serious resistance this week. Senate Democrats rejected an ethics provision in the latest draft in pointed terms, and Majority Leader John Thune publicly doubted the bill can pass before Congress breaks for August recess, according to Bitcoin Magazine.
The setback comes despite a broad coalition of supporters. Bitcoin Magazine also reports that Fidelity — overseeing roughly $7 trillion in assets — formally backed the bill, joining the National Fraternal Order of Police and several leading crypto industry groups who sent a joint letter to Senate leaders urging a vote. The coaltion is unusually wide. Whether that momentum survives the recess is now the real question.
State Department Launches a Bitcoin-Adjacent Program
Separate from the legislative drama, the U.S. State Department debuted its Freedom Tech Excellence Program this week, naming the Bitcoin Policy Institute and defense-technology firms Palantir and Anduril as founding partners, per The Block and Bitcoin Magazine. The program is framed around protecting free expression and open digital infrastructure. Its practical scope remains to be defined, but the State Department's formal association with Bitcoin-focused policy work is a notable institutional signal.
Poolin's Long Collapse Reaches Its End
On the mining side, Decrypt reports that Poolin — once among the largest Bitcoin mining pools in the world — has filed for bankruptcy. The Singapore-based operation never recovered after freezing user withdrawals in 2022. Its final Texas mining sites are being auctioned to repay 11,700 users still holding IOUs. It's a slow-motion ending to one of the industry's more drawn-out insolvencies.
What to Watch
- Bond yields: If U.S. Treasury yields keep climbing, rate-hike odds may weigh further on Bitcoin's price.
- Clarity Act: Senate Democrats and Republicans need to resolve the ethics text dispute before any floor vote is realistic.
- ETF flows: Next week's data will show whether Thursday's outflow was a one-day reaction or the start of a broader retreat.
The week's net ETF flow still finished positive, so Thursday's exit looks more like a geopolitical flinch than a structural shift — for now.
For donors using Bitcoin to support vetted charities, the underlying payment rails work the same whether Bitcoin is at $64,000 or higher. Volatility affects the dollar value of a donation at the moment it's sent, so timing and wallet readiness matter more than ever.