Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, rose roughly 3% during Thursday’s U.S. market hours to trade at $81,487. The primary catalyst for this surge was the U.S. Senate Banking Committee advancing the highly anticipated CLARITY Act, offering a major regulatory progress for the crypto industry. The Bitcoin price in the technical chart shows potential another breakout as low exchange supply and bullish chart pattern signals rising underlying demand.
BTC Hits Past $82,000 as Senate Committee Advances Landmark Clarity Act
Bitcoin (BTC) recovered from a downtrend on May 14, rising more than 3% and briefly crossing $82,000 before settling above the $81,500 level. The rally came after the U.S. Senate Banking Committee unanimously approved the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (Clarity Act), a significant step towards comprehensive crypto regulation.
The vote, with two Democrats — Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks — joining all Republicans, advances the bill toward a full Senate floor vote. The bill establishes a clear, federal definition of digital asset securities (SEC regulated) versus commodities (CFTC regulated). It contains a “mature blockchain test,” exchange registration guidelines, self-custody protections and DeFi protections, which lessen the need for enforcement actions.
The gains have added much to investor confidence on the heels of earlier week weakness. Leaders in the industry hailed the development as a breakthrough compromise that has the potential of making the U.S. the global leader in the crypto industry. Crypto stocks also rose, with Coinbase and others benefiting from solid gains.
There are challenges ahead, such as possible amendments and House-Senate reconciliation, but the bipartisan momentum is growing mainstream acceptance.
The bill’s progression is one of the most important legislative successes in the crypto space.
Bitcoin Exchange Supply Hits Lowest Level Since 2018
Santiment’s latest wallet tracking updates indicate that the amount of bitcoins held on identifiable exchange wallets is about 5.6 percent of the total supply. The proportion hasn’t changed over the past month and it’s at its lowest level since 2018.
The low level persists as a trend of Bitcoin moving towards individual wallet apps rather than centralized exchanges. Such distribution patterns have historically aligned with reduced immediate liquidity available for trading on exchanges.
By contrast, the number of Ethereum supply on the same exchange addresses is 4.6 percent. This comes after an increase of 4.2 percent in the previous week, but it is still in the range of lowest levels since the asset began trading on the public market in 2015.
The data underscores differing holding behaviors between the two largest cryptocurrencies, with Bitcoin showing particularly tight exchange balances in recent weeks. These numbers reflect the percentage of the total supply of assets that are in wallets under control of known platforms.
Bitcoin Price Needs the Breakout to Hit $90k
Following the early-May recovery, the Bitcoin price has recently shifted its trajectory sideways below the $82,500 region. A deeper analysis of the 4-hour chart shows this consolidation resonating within a narrow range of two trendlines, indicating the formation of a bull flag pattern.
The chart setup commonly appears within a directional trend, where it offers temporary pause for buyers to recoup the bullish momentum. With today’s market jump, the Bitcoin price is just 1% away from challenging the pattern’s resistance trendline at $81,911.
A potential breakout from this resistance will accelerate the market buying pressure and bolster a rally towards $84,442, followed by a leap to $90,350.
On the contrary, if BTC price faces constant supply pressure at the flag resistance, the sellers could face another pullback with this channel and retest $78,130 support.