Clarity Passes, Stocks Rip, & Wall Street Piles Into Ethereum

The week saw the stock market reach new all-time highs, seemingly unfazed by accelerating inflation and decelerating wage growth, while bond yields surged. This backdrop raises questions about market resilience, particularly for crypto. A significant development in crypto was the passage of a key vote for the Clarity Act, a crucial piece of legislation for the industry. While not the final vote, it represents overcoming a major hurdle. Democrats introduced numerous amendments, but the odds of the Clarity Act progressing are improving. The debate continues on ethics and developer protections, but the bill has cleared a significant procedural stage. In traditional finance, Ethereum continues to gain traction. Three major financial institutions announced multi-billion dollar tokenized money markets on the Ethereum network. This indicates a growing institutional embrace of blockchain technology for financial products. On the geopolitical front, former President Trump met with Chinese President Xi. This meeting, planned for months, was initially aimed at de-escalating trade tensions but also encompassed discussions on the Iran conflict. China seemed to roll out the red carpet for Trump, playing to his desire for a regal reception. The optics suggest a "let's make a deal" approach, despite underlying competition. However, Xi appeared to hold more leverage. Trump sought deals on exports like planes and soybeans, and crucially, aimed to pressure China to influence Iran regarding the Strait of Hormuz and a peace deal. China, conversely, prioritized its stance on Taiwan and sought access to American technology, particularly semiconductors. This desire for semiconductors from China coincided with a significant announcement: the US is now permitting Nvidia to sell chips to China. This news propelled Nvidia's stock to all-time highs, with the company's market capitalization surpassing that of many countries. Nvidia's valuation highlights the immense value being placed on AI-related hardware. In the US political landscape, Kevin Warsh was confirmed as the new Federal Reserve Chairman, succeeding Jerome Powell. His confirmation was contentious, passing largely along party lines. The key question is whether Warsh will adopt a dovish or hawkish stance on interest rates. While Trump might prefer lower rates, challenging this will be the recent inflation data. April inflation rose to 3.8%, the highest level since May 2023, exceeding expectations. Producer Price Index (PPI) also surged, indicating potential future CPI increases. This inflation surge has led to an increased probability of a Fed rate hike in 2026, a prospect not previously on many radars. Bond market yields also reflect this hawkish sentiment, with the 10-year Treasury yield reaching 4.5% and the 30-year yield exceeding 5%. Historically, such high yields have prompted intervention from Trump. Despite these economic headwinds, the stock market, particularly AI stocks and companies with strong earnings, continued to surge. The market appears to be shrugging off concerns like the Iran conflict, high oil prices, and low consumer sentiment. A critical point highlighted is that real wage growth has not kept pace with inflation for the past few years, creating a financial squeeze for Americans. This divergence between market performance and consumer reality is noted as a significant political indicator. In the crypto market, Bitcoin has surpassed $80,000, though it's lagging behind the S&P 500. The correlation between Bitcoin and QQQ seemed to break this week, with crypto lagging behind equities. MicroStrategy continued its Bitcoin acquisitions, while Tom Lee of Bitmain significantly increased his Ether holdings. Lee indicated Bitmain would slow its Ether purchases as it approaches 5% of the supply. Despite some recent underperformance, some analysts believe that if Bitcoin can maintain levels above $80,000 with multiple weekly closes, it could mark the end of a bear market cycle. Long-term charts for Bitcoin and Ether show a solid base being established, suggesting a "slow grind up" trajectory. However, some predict a potential dump down to the $60,000 range before a sustained recovery. The absence of new buyers and anemic spot volumes are noted as potential weaknesses, although ETF inflows and institutional purchases continue. New crypto ETFs are emerging, including a Hype ETF and Zcash ETFs, signaling continued institutional interest in diverse digital assets. The increasing trading of equities on crypto derivatives platforms like Hyperliquid suggests a blurring of lines between traditional and digital asset markets. Circle reported strong earnings, with a significant year-over-year jump in USDC on-chain transaction volume. The company also announced a $222 million pre-sale for its ARC token, associated with the ARC blockchain, a layer-1 EVM chain focused on an "agent-led future." The valuation of ARC at $3 billion has raised questions about value accrual for L1 tokens. A notable partnership was announced between Coinbase and Hyperliquid. Coinbase will become the native issuer of USDC on Hyperliquid, effectively replacing USDH. This move strengthens USDC's dominance and secures its position within the Hyperliquid ecosystem, with a significant portion of Hyperliquid's revenue now tied to USDC and Hype token buybacks. The week also saw the "D-Day" for Anthropic secondaries, which turned sour. Unauthorized sales of Anthropic stock on platforms like Solana Blockchain led to warnings from Anthropic and Open AI, stating that unapproved share transfers are void. This resulted in significant price drops for tokenized pre-IPO shares of these companies, highlighting the risks and complexities of trading private company equity on secondary markets. The lack of access to these high-growth AI companies for the general public is a point of concern. The Clarity Act made significant progress, passing the Senate Banking Committee with a 15-9 vote. This bipartisan vote was better than many in the crypto industry expected. Crucially, the BRCA, which protects non-custodial developers, was included in the bill. The bill now moves to the full Senate floor, where it will require 60 votes to pass. The banking industry, particularly the American Bankers Association, has expressed concerns about the stablecoin yield provisions, fearing capital and deposit flight. The Clarity Act, if passed, would split oversight between the SEC and CFTC, introduce a "mature blockchain chain test" for decentralization, and potentially ban passive stablecoin yield. The definition of decentralization within the bill is considered robust and cipher-punk aligned. Despite proposed amendments from figures like Elizabeth Warren, none of her proposals made it through this committee stage. In other developments, BlackRock, JP Morgan, and Fidelity all launched tokenized money markets on Ethereum. These initiatives aim to bring traditional financial products and their associated yields onto the blockchain, explicitly targeting stablecoin holders. This move is seen as a counterpoint to the risks associated with DeFi's more speculative yield-generating strategies. Finally, the Bankless podcast team reflected on their six-year journey, with an AI analysis of their transcripts yielding an A-minus grade for their core thesis. The analysis acknowledged their correct macro calls and the success of their Ethereum and DeFi bets, while noting a perceived over-optimism and a blind spot for multi-chain ecosystems and stablecoins. The launch of Euphoria, a "tap to trade" app on Polygon, was also highlighted as a new crypto-native application.