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Crypto journalist Eleanor Terrett posted on the X platform that the U.S. Senate yesterday passed a resolution by unanimous consent, stating that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should not receive a presidential pardon.The resolution was introduced by Senators Ruben Gallego and Cynthia Lummis, formally recording the Senate's political statement opposing the pardon for SBF.However, the resolution is not legally binding, so it will not prevent the U.S. President from pardoning SBF in the future, nor does it have any direct impact on his current legal situation.

Ripple's Co-Head of Global Public Policy and Government Affairs, Lauren Belive, stated that opposing the CLARITY Act is not against the crypto industry, but rather against consumers, as it will leave crypto holders exposed to bad actors exploiting regulatory arbitrage. Belive noted that the U.S. digital asset market already exists, but federal rules to protect consumers have not kept pace. She pointed out that the regulatory gap that led to the FTX collapse and customer fund losses still exists.Belive stated that the CLARITY Act would grant the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) clear joint jurisdiction over the digital asset market and require tokens to undergo regulatory oversight before entering the market. Ripple's Chief Legal Officer and President of the National Cryptocurrency Association, Stuart Alderoty, stated that opposing the CLARITY Act would allow the current unregulated status to continue, which would be exploited by bad actors.

According to Japanese media reports, the Japanese Senate officially voted today to pass the revised "Financial Instruments and Exchange Act." This amendment marks the formal inclusion of crypto assets (virtual currencies) into the regulatory scope of financial products, no longer limited to the constraints of the "Funds Settlement Act" as a means of payment.In terms of regulation and investor protection, the new rules introduce an insider trading regulatory mechanism for the crypto market, while also accepting oversight from monitoring committees such as those for securities trading. Additionally, the law significantly increases the penalties for unlicensed operators, with the maximum sentence raised from 3 years to 10 years in prison, and the maximum fine increased to 10 million yen. This revised legislation is expected to be officially implemented by July 2027.In terms of taxation and investment channels, the new rules clarify several significant policy changes. Starting from January 2028, the tax rate on profits from crypto asset trading in Japan will be reduced from the current maximum of 55% comprehensive taxation to a unified tax rate of 20%, the same as for stocks (separate declaration taxation). Furthermore, the Japanese market is also expected to officially lift the ban on crypto asset ETFs during the same period, with various securities institutions already beginning preparations for related entry matters.

According to CoinPost, the Japanese Senate plenary session today passed and established the "Amendment to the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act and the Fund Settlement Act," redefining crypto assets from a means of payment to financial products. Key revisions include: the renaming of crypto asset exchange operators to crypto asset trading operators, increasing the maximum prison term for unregistered sales from under 3 years to under 10 years, and raising fines from under 3 million yen to under 10 million yen; the introduction of regulations against insider trading in crypto assets for the first time, prohibiting trading based on undisclosed important information; and requiring specific crypto asset issuers to disclose information regularly every year.In terms of taxation, it shifts from a maximum comprehensive tax rate of 55% to a separate declaration tax (approximately 20%), allowing losses to be carried forward for 3 years, expected to be implemented from January 1, 2028. The bill also provides a framework for the establishment of crypto asset ETFs, with the Japan Exchange Group expected to promote ETF listings around 2027. After the bill's passage, the next focus will shift to the formulation of specific rules such as government orders and supervisory guidelines, including reserve levels and derivative leverage limits. Compliance costs may pose pressure on small and medium-sized exchanges, but the entry opportunities for asset management companies and banking insurance institutions will expand.

Fox Business crypto reporter posted on X platform stating that it is currently unclear what this means for the BRCA provisions, and it is also unclear whether the version passed by the Senate Banking Committee will undergo further modifications.Support from law enforcement has become a key factor in the negotiations of this bill, with some Democratic senators, including @CortezMasto and @MarkWarner, expressing a desire to address the concerns of law enforcement before the legislation receives full support in the Senate.

U.S. President Trump stated that the U.S. Senate should pass the Clarity Act to support Senator Lindsey Graham. He mentioned that China and other countries are trying to gain dominance in this important financial sector as well as in the field of artificial intelligence, and he urged the U.S. not to lose its competitive edge in these two areas.

According to The Hill, the Clarity Act, which provides a regulatory framework for the digital asset industry, is facing a critical legislative window. Bipartisan negotiations in the U.S. have yet to reach an agreement on key issues such as government officials' ethical rules and illicit finance.If the bill fails to advance before the August recess, there will be almost no time window before the midterm elections, which could cause the legislative process to return to square one.Currently, the Republican leadership aims to push for consideration during the week of July 20, but at least 7 Democratic senators' support is needed for it to pass.

According to The Block, U.S. Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has written to the bipartisan leaders of the Senate, urging them to retain Section 604 of the Clarity Act, the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act. This provision provides a safe harbor for non-custodial developers, clarifying that they do not fall under the category of money transmitters, and it has received widespread support from the crypto industry, which believes it offers legal certainty for software developers and prevents the outflow of innovation.However, law enforcement agencies and Catholic leaders warn that this provision could weaken regulatory capabilities in combating human trafficking and hinder investigations. Wyden countered in his letter that the provision aligns the policies of the DOJ and FinCEN, ensuring that resources are focused on illegal money transmission activities, and stipulates that non-custodial developers are not protected if they are found to be transferring or using funds from illegal activities. This controversy is one of the main unresolved issues in advancing the Clarity Act, with another being the ethics provision. The time window before the Senate recess in August is narrowing.

According to CoinDesk, the Clarity Act failed to be signed into law on July 4 as White House advisor Patrick Witt had hoped, and the time window for passing it through Congress before the midterm elections is narrowing.Three individuals familiar with the process stated that they remain optimistic about the bill passing this year, as relevant staff are still coordinating between the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Banking Committee versions. The Senate may only need a few days for public debate and voting, but if the bill fails to pass before the midterm elections, the post-election outlook remains uncertain. The next key date is August 7, 2026, which is the last session day before the Senate's summer recess and the campaign season.

According to CoinDesk, investment bank Jefferies stated in its latest report that the U.S. CLARITY Act still faces significant legislative hurdles in the Senate, and related legislative progress in the coming weeks may exacerbate volatility in the cryptocurrency market.Jefferies pointed out that although the bill previously passed the Senate Banking Committee with a bipartisan vote of 15 to 9, there are only about 20 legislative days left before the August congressional recess. The Senate still needs to complete the bill's consolidation, procedural voting, coordination with the House version, and submission for presidential signature, making the timeline very tight.Polymarket data shows that the probability of the bill passing by the end of 2026 has dropped from 70% in mid-May to 48%. Jefferies believes that if the bill passes smoothly, it will establish a clear regulatory framework for digital assets, prompting banks, asset management institutions, and exchanges to accelerate their layout in tokenized assets, custody, staking, lending, and other businesses, as well as facilitate more cryptocurrency ETFs and IPOs of cryptocurrency infrastructure companies. If the legislation is delayed, it may prolong regulatory uncertainty, causing traditional financial institutions to slow down their blockchain business advancement.The report predicts that the progress of the bill will continue to affect the market performance of cryptocurrency concept stocks such as Circle (CRCL), Coinbase (COIN), Bullish (BLSH), and some cryptocurrency assets.Jefferies also noted that in the long term, compared to regulatory changes, the greater challenge faced by stablecoin issuer Circle still comes from competition with banks, fintech, and payment companies.

According to Crypto in America, the U.S. Senate will recess until July 13, and the advancement of the CLARITY Act depends on the progress of behind-the-scenes coordination over the next two weeks. Staff from both parties, government officials, and industry stakeholders are working to resolve remaining differences, including reconciling text discrepancies between the Banking Committee and the Agriculture Committee, as well as reaching consensus on ethical standards and provisions to combat illegal financial activities.The bill requires the support of at least 60 senators to pass. Even if all 53 Republican votes are in favor, at least 7 Democratic senators will need to join; the support of the majority of Democrats may depend on whether the White House can agree to establish a strong ethical framework regarding issues related to Trump's cryptocurrency business. According to Reuters, since Trump's return to the White House, his cryptocurrency business has generated over $2 billion in new wealth for him.Additionally, major law enforcement groups still oppose the inclusion of provisions from the Blockchain Regulatory Certainty Act in the bill, arguing that it would increase the difficulty of investigating and prosecuting on-chain crimes. Remaining discrepancies in the Agriculture Committee's text include issues such as the prioritization of federal law over state law, management of conflicts of interest in exchanges, and restrictions on related-party transactions. Sources indicate that the parties have not yet reached a final agreement, and there remains uncertainty about whether the Senate vote can be completed before the August recess.

According to BBX data, last weekend Japan's largest financial group completed the most important cryptocurrency acquisition, and U.S. bipartisan senators launched a new regulatory offensive against prediction market platforms. The core developments are as follows:SBI Holdings, Inc. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 8473) announced the acquisition of the Japanese cryptocurrency exchange Bitbank (privately held) for approximately $289 million. After the transaction is completed, SBI's cryptocurrency business will surpass all competitors, creating Japan's largest cryptocurrency exchange. SBI Holdings is one of Japan's largest independent financial services groups, already owning cryptocurrency-friendly network bank SBI Shinsei Bank, cryptocurrency asset custodian SBI Digital Asset Holdings, and multiple Bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency venture capital investments. Bitbank is one of Japan's largest spot BTC exchanges and holds an official cryptocurrency exchange license from the Financial Services Agency (FSA) of Japan. This acquisition marks a shift for traditional Japanese financial institutions from "strategic trial" in the cryptocurrency sector to "scale acquisition dominance," alongside the joint stablecoin plan of the three major banks: Mitsubishi UFJ ($MUFG), Sumitomo Mitsui ($SMFG), and Mizuho ($MFG) (targeting March 2027), forming the most intensive wave of cryptocurrency layout in Japan's financial industry by 2026.U.S. Senators John Curtis (Republican, Utah) and Adam Schiff (Democrat, California) reported on June 28 that they jointly sent a letter to the CFTC, urging it to conduct a formal investigation into the prediction market platform Polymarket (privately held), citing a "concerning" investigative report regarding Polymarket's "deceptive marketing" practices, which accused it of systematic misleading in user acquisition and risk disclosure. This is the third regulatory offensive against prediction market platforms initiated by Congress this year (previously, the House Oversight Committee launched an insider trading investigation on May 22); the two senators come from different parties, which is significant. For Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: $HOOD), this investigation poses indirect pressure—Robinhood's prediction market/event contract business (which achieved a record daily trading volume in June) faces the same regulatory qualitative disputes as Polymarket; however, Robinhood's defensive advantage lies in its ongoing application for a CFTC Designated Contract Market (DCM) license, providing a clearer compliance path compared to Polymarket.

The U.S. Senate is trying to advance the cryptocurrency market structure bill, the "Clarity Act," in July, but the time window for the bill's passage is narrowing due to a backlog of priority agendas such as the defense authorization bill, the agriculture bill extension, and housing legislation. The Senate's schedule is tight in the coming weeks. In addition to the annual defense and agriculture bills, Trump stated on Wednesday that he would not support a major housing bill unless Congress first passes a bill requiring federal election voters to provide proof of citizenship. This housing bill also includes provisions to prohibit central bank digital currencies.As members of Congress will leave Washington before the August recess, if the relevant bills do not advance before then, the political focus will shift to the November elections when they return, further reducing the available floor time for cryptocurrency legislation. Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis indicated that a new version of the text is expected to be released around July 4 for final review by lawmakers, with a vote planned for July. A Senate aide also mentioned that the "Clarity Act" will become one of the bipartisan priorities when the Senate reconvenes in July. However, the bill still faces multiple uncertainties, including the level of Democratic support, controversies over Trump's related cryptocurrency conflicts of interest, the priority of other significant bills, and the Senate's limited scheduling.

According to FinanceFeeds, five Democratic senators urged the Republican committee chairman on Tuesday to hold a hearing immediately to investigate the reported $500 million investment by the UAE in the Trump family's cryptocurrency company, World Liberty Financial.It is reported that an aide to the Abu Dhabi royal family signed an agreement four days before Trump's inauguration last year to purchase a 49% stake in World Liberty Financial for $500 million, of which $218 million has already been paid to Trump and entities related to his diplomat for Middle Eastern affairs, Steve Witkoff.The senators confirmed that the supporter is UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Since Trump took office in January 2025, his administration has approved several deals favorable to the UAE, including a $1.4 billion arms sale in May 2025 and authorization in November for the sale of over $1 billion worth of 35,000 advanced AI chips to UAE's G42 company.

On June 23, five Democratic senators from the U.S. Senate, including Elizabeth Warren and Richard Blumenthal, jointly sent a letter requesting multiple Senate committees to hold hearings immediately regarding the $500 million investment by UAE officials in the Trump family's cryptocurrency project WLFI, to investigate whether this investment influenced the Trump administration's subsequent policy decisions towards the UAE.According to the letter, an agent for a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family signed an agreement with the Trump family to acquire a 49% stake in WLFI for $500 million, with the agreement completed four days before Trump's inauguration. The foreign buyer prepaid $218 million to entities associated with the Trump family and Middle East chief diplomat Steve Witkoff. The deal was reportedly endorsed by UAE National Security Advisor Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and the senators described this move as "unprecedented in U.S. political history."More concerning is the policy direction following the completion of the deal. The letter lists a series of decisions made by the Trump administration within months of the agreement that were clearly favorable to the UAE: approval of $1.4 billion in arms sales to the UAE; the Treasury Department establishing a "known investor pilot" program, which opened the green light for a fast-track approval process for the UAE that had long been lobbied for by CFIUS; and the Commerce Department lifting chip export restrictions from the Biden era, authorizing UAE AI company G42 to acquire 35,000 Nvidia Blackwell chips, with a transaction amount exceeding $1 billion. However, U.S. intelligence officials reportedly found that G42 had provided U.S. technology that could enhance missile capabilities to China.The senators demanded that Trump administration officials "explain under oath when they became aware of the payments to the president and his chief regional diplomat's family," and provide clarification on how to restore public trust. Currently, neither WLFI nor the UAE government has responded to this matter.

Democratic senators in the United States are urging an investigation into the Trump family's alleged $500 million cryptocurrency deal with the Abu Dhabi royal family.

According to Bloomberg Tax, U.S. Senate Republican tax drafter Steve Daines stated that the cryptocurrency tax legislation framework being advanced by the Senate has basically taken shape and may be announced as early as this fall. Daines said that the framework is "more similar than different" to the version previously released by the House Ways and Means Committee, and he hopes to hold a legislative markup meeting within this year, but did not disclose specific details.

According to CoinDesk, the U.S. Senate passed a housing bill with a vote of 85 to 5, which includes a four-year ban on Federal Reserve central bank digital currency (CBDC). This ban will last until the end of 2030, prohibiting the Federal Reserve system or its member banks from issuing or creating central bank digital currency or any digital assets that are substantially similar. Although the Federal Reserve has not actively promoted a CBDC project, Republican lawmakers view CBDCs as a dangerous act of government overreach and insisted on including it in the housing bill. The newly appointed Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh called CBDCs a "bad policy choice" during his nomination hearing. Trump signed an executive order in January 2025 prohibiting any actions to advance CBDCs. If the House passes it and the President signs it, the ban will become law.

According to Fortune, Theodore Gillibrand, the son of New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, has completed a $30 million financing round, with the company valued at approximately $300 million. They plan to launch a derivatives trading platform named American Perpetuals Exchange Corp. (APEC). The platform intends to apply for a license from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and aims to list perpetual futures for stocks and stock indices, rather than perpetual contracts for cryptocurrencies.