Bitcoin erases golden-cross gains as Senate nears Clarity Act vote
Regulation & Gov ·
Bitcoin dropped to its weakest closing price since September's bullish crossover, with a contentious Senate procedural vote and Wall Street's rate anxiety both weighing on the market the same day.
The token fell 2.39% to $76,314, according to Decrypt, after opening at $78,185 and briefly touching $78,242 before sliding to an intraday floor of $76,076. The decline wipes out the technical gain from the recent golden cross, when the 50-day exponential moving average moved above the 200-day exponential moving average—a signal many traders read as confirmation of longer-term upward momentum.
The drop coincides with a Senate cloture vote on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act scheduled for 2:15 p.m. ET, which requires 60 votes to advance and faces uncertain support. Odds on prediction markets tracking the bill's chances of passage in 2026 fell sharply through September before recovering somewhat in recent days following new concessions. A failed vote would not end the legislation but would push comprehensive crypto market-structure rules past the midterm elections, per Decrypt.
Broader risk sentiment is also under pressure ahead of Wednesday's Federal Reserve rate decision, with markets now leaning toward a hike rather than a cut. Stock futures slipped, the 10-year Treasury yield approached its highest level since 2023, and oil prices climbed on supply concerns tied to the Middle East. Fresh AI-safety warnings from industry figures added to the cautious mood across tech shares as well.
Chart indicators suggest the move is more than short-term profit-taking. The Average Directional Index sits at 42.8, well above the 25 threshold typically used to confirm a genuine trend rather than random price noise, while the Relative Strength Index reads a neutral 50.5, leaving room for the price to move further before hitting overbought or oversold extremes. A weeklong Squeeze Momentum reading of negative 1.17 and still declining points to sustained selling pressure building toward a potential breakout in that direction. Fibonacci levels drawn from the June low of $68,858 to the September high of $82,281 show bitcoin testing support just above the 50% retracement at $75,569, with $73,986 and $71,731 as the next downside levels if that line breaks.
Separately, the White House has been pressing Senate Republicans to back the Clarity Act's stablecoin provisions ahead of the vote, releasing a data tool intended to address concerns about deposit outflows, according to wublockchain.xyz. Whether that push shifts enough votes for cloture, and how the Fed's rate decision lands the following day, remain the key unknowns shaping bitcoin's next move.