Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #68 of The Bitcoin Act — your Tuesday and Sunday briefing on the legal and regulatory moves that actually shape Bitcoin.

Now for today’s top stories:

⚖️ CLARITY Act Inches Forward
Senators sent the White House a bipartisan ethics compromise, edging forward the stalled bill that would decide which regulator oversees Bitcoin.

🔍 Block Traces COLDCARD Attacker
Block's engineers traced the COLDCARD thief through a paid account he used at a well-known transaction-tracking service.

🛡️ COLDCARD Victims: Act Now
JAN3's Samson Mow told COLDCARD theft victims to document everything and file police reports.

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Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act, an independent seven-member agency empowered to investigate and claw back profits obtained through executive-branch corruption.

Sen. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.) co-authored a bipartisan ethics compromise (in the CLARITY Act) sent to the White House, signaling rare movement toward the 60 Senate votes the market-structure bill needs to advance.

Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou (JPMorgan managing director) warned that the CLARITY Act's fading passage odds — recently a 37% chance on prediction markets — set back the broader market's outlook.

Scott Bessent (Treasury Secretary) blamed Senate Democrats for stalling the CLARITY Act, arguing they are prioritizing politics and fear Senator Elizabeth Warren's self-described "Anti-Crypto Army."

Michael Saylor (Executive Chairman, Strategy) endorsed the CLARITY Act, saying America needs durable rules protecting property rights, though he added Bitcoin "will succeed with or without legislation."

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will reconsider its own May approval of Nasdaq's Bitcoin-price options (QBTC), keeping the product suspended and inviting public comment through August 24.

The U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned two Iranian firms running a bitcoin-accepting maritime "insurance" scheme it called extortion, funneling Strait of Hormuz shipping fees to Iran's Revolutionary Guard.

Clay Garrett (engineering lead, Block's Bitkey) said his team traced the COLDCARD Bitcoin hardware-wallet attacker through a paid account the thief used at a well-known on-chain data provider.

Koo Yun-cheol (South Korea Deputy Prime Minister) confirmed the country will tax annual cryptocurrency gains above 2.5 million won (about $1,740) at up to 22%, starting January 2027.

Samson Mow recommended that COLDCARD theft victims document everything, file police reports, watch for coordinated efforts to track movements of the stolen funds, preserve their device and seed phrase as proof, and never trust anyone promising paid fund "recovery."

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💸 $676 million — the amount an Iran-linked Dubai exchange called Shelbit funneled to Binance in an alleged sanctions-evasion scheme, a reminder that centralized exchanges are surveillance and freeze points. The Block

⚡ 1 gigawatt — the power that cryptocurrency mining draws from Moscow's electricity grid, the reason Russia is banning mining across the region from mid-August through the end of 2032. The Block

🚨 $11 billion — what Americans told the Federal Bureau of Investigation they lost to cryptocurrency fraud in 2025, which New York Attorney General Letitia James cited to push Congress toward a stronger CLARITY Act. Bitcoin.com

📬 Zero — the number of real "Digital Asset Compliance Portals" that exist, even though counterfeit Internal Revenue Service letters are now mailing cryptocurrency holders to a fake one to steal their coins. The Block

🟠 3.18 years — the average length of time the stolen Bitcoin had sat untouched before being drained from COLDCARD wallets, proof the victims were long-term hodlers who did everything by the book. X

🇺🇸 Mon, Aug 3 (possible) — Senate floor action on the CLARITY Act — A vote could land as early as Monday on the broad market-structure bill that would put Bitcoin under the commodities regulator; flagged only if ethics and anti-money-laundering talks advance.

⚖️ ~Aug 3 (expected) — SEC review order hits the Federal Register (QBTC) — The government's official journal is expected to publish the SEC's order reopening its review of Nasdaq's cash-settled Bitcoin index options — price contracts settled in cash — keeping the product on hold.

🟠 Tue, Aug 4, 6:30 PM ET — Emergency Coldcard Update, Pubkey DC (410 Seventh St NW, Washington) — Bitcoin District hosts local experts on the COLDCARD entropy flaw (weak randomness in key generation); if you hold sats on an affected device, this is where to learn whether your self-custody is at risk.

🇨🇱 Aug 5–7 — Blockchain Summit Latam Chile 2026, University of Chile, Santiago — A broad industry summit (not Bitcoin-only) where regulators and the Central Bank of Chile's vice president debate regulation and market rules; worth watching for Latam policy signals, not self-custody guidance.

🏛️ Wed, Aug 6, 2:00 PM ET — SEC closed-door commission meeting (Sunshine Act) — The Securities and Exchange Commission holds a private meeting under the open-government law that normally requires public notice; the agenda is undisclosed, so any Bitcoin-market items would surface only afterward.

🇵🇾 Fri, Aug 7 — Paraguay Blockchain Summit 2026, Autonomous University of Asunción — Another broad regional summit (not Bitcoin-only); its Bitcoin-mining sessions and speaker Juan Carlos Reyes of El Salvador's digital-asset regulator (CNAD) make it worth tracking for Latam mining and adoption policy. 

🇺🇸 Aug 7 (anticipated) — CLARITY Act cloture deadline before recess — The practical last chance to lock the 60 votes for cloture — the Senate step ending debate to force a final vote — on the market-structure bill before senators leave for recess.

🔎 All week (ongoing) — Global investigations into the COLDCARD theft — Authorities worldwide are tracing the stolen sats; victims are urged to preserve the physical device, seed backup, and exchange receipts as proof of ownership for any future recovery — do not destroy anything.

"It used to be the boast of free men that, so long as they kept within the bounds of the known law, there was no need to ask anybody's permission or to obey anybody's orders." — Friedrich Hayek

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