On this Friday morning we are looking at new record highs on Wall Street with the S&P 500 clearing 7100 as well as in crypto right now we are looking at Bitcoin holding above that 77,000 level and rallying as well.
And not surprisingly, we are looking at the other crypto major up close to 3%, actually breaking above the 2430 level.
Now also briefly topped the $90 level.
Meanwhile, Trump is saying that the US naval blockade will remain in effect.
Now Congress is back from recess and the Trump administration is turning up the pressure to get a major crypto bill across the finish line.
The window is shrinking for the long debated Clarity Act, a bill that would finally settle the turf war between the SEC and CFTC over digital assets.
Now according to a new JPMorgan report, lawmakers are incredibly close with only a few hurdles left, and that is mainly decentralized.
Finance oversight and stable coins can offer yield to users but with the Senate Banking Committee juggling Federal Reserve nominations and the 2026 midterms looming largely on the horizon.
The clock is ticking.
Well joining me to weigh in this morning is Cleve Mesidor, Executive Director of the Blockchain Foundation.
Cleve, good morning.
Thank you so much for joining us.
So a lot of breaking news this morning.
We are seeing a rally in stocks as well as in crypto.
So what do you make of the price action we're seeing this morning first and foremost.
Well, you know what, we don't have enough runway to really understand what drives the price of Bitcoin, but I do think that we're seeing, you know, the industry is growing and we're building and products and services are, you know, on the, in the marketplace, and we're seeing a lot of traditional financial institutions getting into tokenization, launching their own stablecoins, so I think the, the.
The the price surges are because this is a burgeoning and you know robust industry where there is growth and obviously the regulatory landscape, you know, some of the policy conversations that still have to happen will continue to have an impact but I think we're seeing that, you know, crypto is touching traditional finance is touching, you know, enterprise blockchain space. where we we're seeing IBM Oracle building for private enterprises, so I think it's a, it's good, it's good news for the industry, but I don't want, you know, the audience to think that everything weighs on the price of Bitcoin or the price of cryptocurrencies because regardless of the prices, this $4 trillion industry is here and it's here to stay and it's here as part of the future of innovation and the global economy.
Yeah and speaking of which we're keeping an eye on our nation's capital here so when it comes to regulation as well as policy, what are you hearing when it comes to progress regarding the clarity act.
Yeah, I think you know we're all frustrated that clarity has not advanced, has not passed, but I wanna be clear that this is not a bipartisan issue.
You know, we, we could have had a markup in January and, you know, segments of the industry wanted to hold, and bipartisanship is critical to how we grow this industry. to even how we ultimately pass market structure, obviously there's a lot of work to do in the Senate, and we're hearing that, you know, Senator Tim Scott, the focus is on, you know, the confirmation for the Fed chair.
So the timetable for when Senate banking could get a, get a markup on its bill is unclear.
Hopefully in May.
But I will say, you know, the bipartisanship is an important element to advancing policy in crypto, and we have to still stay focused on that again, but it is not a lack of bipartisanship, it's not Democrats that have stalled, you know, the advancement of the, the markup that we need in Senate banking, but there are sticking points, obviously, you know.
If we had done the markup in January, this conversation about predictive markets wouldn't be so sticky right now and, and certainly for for Democrats, the issue of ethics and the president's families, crypto holdings and crypto enterprises is definitely an issue but we're we're seeing that Democrats are at the table, you know, Senator Gillibrand and Senator Booker.
In house AG they are moving things forward even in, in Senate Banking.
I'm sorry, in, in Senate AG Booker Angela Brand, but even in Senate Banking Gallego and negotiating the yield compromise is Senator also Brooks as in collaboration with Senator Tillis.
So we saw the House pass clarity.
On a bipartisan basis, but they were able to combine the House AG and the, the House Financial Services bill.
It's trickier for the Senate, but I think we can get there.
We have to keep our eye on ensuring this process is bipartisan and that Democrats are at the table and that we have, you know, policies and regulations that we can move forward.
And the, the other thing I would say is.
Rulemaking is a great opportunity to, you know, debate some of the issues we have to start advancing bills as we get compromises because that's the only way Washington works is on a compromise.
And then in the rulemaking process we can iron things out.
Look at the issue of yield.
It came about in rule making because we have a lot of work.
To do we have a lot of work to do to start addressing taxes, which is going to be the next, next issue for this debate.
If we can advance market structure, we have to look at taxation.
I'm glad that that's a bipartisan conversation we're seeing Congressman Horsford in that conversation on the House side already and we have other bills beyond, you know, financial services.
You know there's the deploying American Block Chains Act, which is bipartisan that that has passed, you know, in both chambers where we see in the House Senate Congressman Soto and Congress Congresswoman Kamack have advanced that bill and on the Senate side, you know, Senator Moreno and Lisa Blot.
Chester has advanced the deploying American Black Chains Act.
We need so many other legislations to advance to have a truly, you know, comprehensive and robust industry.
We need to ensure that the process is bipartisan.
Well, Cleve, we will have to leave it there.
Always great talking to you.
Thank you so much for joining us today.
