1. U.S. Senate Fails to Pass Clarity Act Procedural Vote
The U.S. Senate failed to secure the required 60 votes for the cloture motion to proceed with deliberations on the Clarity Act, resulting in the failure to advance the bill. The vote ended with 49 in favor and 50 against, falling short of the 60-vote quorum. This defeat has stalled the regulatory clarity that the cryptocurrency industry has been awaiting, with industry observers noting that congressional discussions are unlikely to make progress in the near term.
2. Bitcoin Faces Pressure at $75,000 Level Following Clarity Act Defeat
The defeat of the U.S. Clarity Act has lowered expectations for regulatory clarification, causing the broader virtual asset market to weaken. As of 7:30 a.m. on the 16th, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at $75,520, down 3.86% from the previous day, and briefly dipped below the $75,000 mark to $74,984 during intraday trading. Ethereum (ETH) fell 5.59% to $2,397.37, while the stocks of related companies such as Coinbase and Circle plunged by approximately 9%. Robinhood, Bullish, eToro, Riot Platforms, MARA Holdings, and CleanSpark also declined in tandem.
3. Avalanche-Based Won Stablecoin KRW1 Integrated into Global Payment Network
KRW1, a South Korean Won-linked stablecoin issued on the Avalanche network, has been integrated into global payment infrastructure. This integration was achieved through a partnership with the payment platform Rain, which incorporated KRW1 into its global payment infrastructure. As a result, businesses can now issue Won-denominated cards usable at over 175 million Visa merchant locations worldwide. KRW1 is a stablecoin issued by BDACS in collaboration with Woori Bank, utilizing the Avalanche network as its issuance infrastructure.
4. Miden Unveils Privacy Wallet 'Bread'
Miden has unveiled Bread, a cryptocurrency wallet leveraging zero-knowledge proof technology. Bread supports decentralized finance (DeFi) activities such as sending, receiving, and swapping without exposing users' transaction histories and balances to the outside world. Bread will support the native stablecoin USDCx from the first day of the Miden mainnet launch and is scheduled to support cross-chain transactions with Ethereum. Currently available as a v0 beta version, it can be accessed via mobile app and browser extension on the testnet.
5. Two Robinhood Engineers Indicted for Using Non-Public Listing Information
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has indicted Robinhood engineers Hepu Zhai and Huaisong Xiang on charges of commodities fraud and wire fraud. According to prosecutors, the defendants allegedly used non-public cryptocurrency listing information from Robinhood to repeatedly trade related perpetual futures on Hyperliquid. The trades took place between 2025 and 2026, and the two individuals are reported to have each gained over $50,000 in illicit profits. Each defendant faces up to 10 years in prison for violating the Commodity Exchange Act and up to 20 years for wire fraud.
