Laws move slower than markets. But they hit harder. This is issue #59 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:

🏛️ JPMorgan Urges Stablecoin Oversight
JPMorgan executives warned on June 29 that yield-bearing stablecoins could become shadow banking.

👀 CLARITY Act Faces Tight Timeline
The Senate returns on July 13. The CLARITY Act still needs 60 votes to pass, with a House hearing set for July 17.

🇺🇸 Democrats Target Trump Token Ventures
Democrats hit Trump-linked token projects last week over foreign ties and profits. This increases pressure for new ethics rules.

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On Monday, June 29, two JPMorgan executives published a note urging Congress to build a regulatory framework for the crypto market while "closing loopholes" — warning that yield-bearing stablecoins could become unregulated "shadow banking." They didn't name the still-unpassed CLARITY Act.

JPMorgan is defending bank deposits from stablecoin competition. The real risk is the vocabulary: "closing loopholes" and "AML tools are foundational" (anti-money-laundering rules) are exactly the phrases that get bolted onto market-structure bills as surveillance riders later.

The Block

The Senate is in recess until July 13, so nothing moves until then. The CLARITY Act has cleared committee but still needs 60 votes on the Senate floor. The House Financial Services Committee has scheduled a field hearing for July 17 in New York to examine how the CLARITY Act "unlocks innovation," but that's a hearing, not a vote on the bill.

Two things you can do right now. Call your Senator at (202) 224-3121 or use crypto-law.us/connect-to-congress to tell them what you want the CLARITY Act to deliver for Bitcoiners: strong protection for non-custodial developers and self-custody. And to see where the bill actually stands, follow the text directly at: congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3633.

Crypto in America

On June 23–24, two Democrats took Trump's token ventures to the floor. Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), in his "500 Days of Corruption" speech, alleged Trump pocketed $57 million selling tokens to entities tied to North Korea, Iran, and Russia. Rep. Gabe Amo (D-RI) told the House the Trump family made $2.3 billion in token schemes. These are contested allegations that have been recorded but not adjudicated.

None of this is about Bitcoin, it's about presidential memecoins and a dollar-pegged stablecoin, the opposite of decentralized, self-custodied money. But it's the ammunition Democrats will use to demand an "ethics framework" and tougher illicit-finance rules in any market-structure bill: provisions that can spill onto your privacy.

Congress.gov

🇦🇺 Australia's Travel Rule Takes Effect
From July 1, Australian exchanges must collect sender and recipient details for every Bitcoin transfer, including moves to wallets. The rule aligns Australia with existing standards in the EU, US, and UK.

🇪🇺 MiCA Transition Period Ends in Europe
Only 244 platforms hold full MiCA licenses as the transitional period ends on July 1. ESMA directed unauthorized firms to wind down operations in an orderly manner. Most of the roughly 3,000 pre-MiCA registered entities will lose authorization.

🔍 Chainalysis Publishes Tracing Ontology
Chainalysis published a proposed ontology to standardize how investigators cluster addresses and trace transactions. The framework aims to improve data reliability for law enforcement use in investigations involving Bitcoin and other digital assets.

🚫 Bybit Restricts EEA Services
Bybit began progressively limiting access to certain services on its global platform for residents of 30 European countries as the MiCA deadline approaches. Users retain the ability to withdraw funds during the transition. Malta is not affected.

🇺🇦 Ukraine Transfers Seized Funds to State Custody
Ukraine transferred $8.3 million in seized USDT to its state asset recovery agency under court order. This marks the first time seized digital assets have been moved into state management in the country.

🇬🇧 UK Finalizes Capital and Market Abuse Rules
The UK Financial Conduct Authority published final rules on capital requirements, market abuse, and stablecoin standards. Platforms must obtain authorization under the new regime starting October 2027.

🗣️ CZ Says Binance's Greek MiCA Bid Was Blocked
CZ said the exchange's Greek MiCA application was fully compliant and near approval before unspecified political forces intervened, prompting last week's withdrawal. Binance says it remains committed to securing an EU license.

⚠️ France Blacklists Cryptover.org
France's securities regulator AMF added Cryptover.org and six other unauthorized crypto intermediaries to its blacklist the same day, warning investors against using unauthorized platforms.

🔒 Bitcoin Policy UK Updates Privacy Toolkit
Bitcoin Policy UK updated its privacy toolkit and released a supporting podcast explaining privacy as fundamental to freedom to transact without constant monitoring.

🇦🇪 Dubai Sees Inquiry Surge Ahead of MiCA Deadline
Dubai lawyer Irina Heaver says inquiries from founders surged to over 120 a week, half from Europe, as MiCA's deadline pushes Bitcoin firms toward the UAE's faster VARA licensing.

Every week I drop one concrete, actionable answer to a legal or political question that actually affects your life as a Bitcoiner, focused on a specific, real-world action you can take. No theory. No fluff. Just the move.

This week: How the CLARITY Act Will Change Your Bitcoin Routine?

The CLARITY Act passed the House in July 2025 and cleared the Senate Banking Committee 15-9 in May 2026. It still needs 60 Senate votes and a signature — not law yet, but the text is locked enough to plan around.

1.     Bitcoin gets named a commodity, by statute. The bill explicitly classifies Bitcoin as a digital commodity under CFTC jurisdiction, not the SEC. That ends a decade of "is it a security" ambiguity for Bitcoin specifically — it doesn't touch how you hold it, but it locks in the legal ground under your feet.

2.     Your Trezor or Ledger gets a federal shield. The bill states that providing hardware or software for a customer's own custody isn't money transmitting. That's Trezor, Ledger, and every wallet maker — they can't be regulated like an exchange just for selling you a device that holds your own keys.

3.     Banks get a green light to custody Bitcoin. The bill stops regulators from forcing banks to count custodied Bitcoin as a balance-sheet liability. More banks will now pitch you "custody." Politely decline; not your keys still means not your coins, statute or not.

4.     Node operators and Core devs are covered too. Section 604 confirms running a node, validating transactions, or maintaining wallet software doesn't make you a money transmitter. If you run a node or contribute code, you're now harder to prosecute for the infrastructure you maintain.

Got a legal or regulatory question you want answered next Tuesday? Hit reply and send it.

📊 CLARITY Act signed into law in 2026? — 49% Polymarket

📊 Trump signs housing bill by end of July? — 46% Polymarket

📊 Trump eliminates capital gains tax on crypto by December 31, 2026? — 3% Polymarket

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