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- > Bitcoin Marches to $80k USD
- > Reserve Bank of Australia eyes off stablecoin infrastructure
- > Is the Clarity ACT stalemate no longer in check?
Bitcoin Marches to $80k USD
The crypto market has experienced one of its stronger weeks of 2026 so far, with most large-cap coins witnessing seven-day gains to kick off May.
Like in prior bear market rallies, Bitcoin led from the front, increasing by 7.6% over the past week to break the $80k USD ceiling it has floundered beneath for much of the year. This marked the first time since February that BTC reclaimed this milestone, with the move coming largely on the back of positive ETF flows.
The first three days of April trading were particularly prominent, with spot BTC funds drawing in $1.5 billion USD worth of inflows.
The consensus among many analysts remains the same; retail is largely sitting on the sidelines, while several institutions continue accumulating BTC at around their average purchase price.
It’s worth noting that Bitcoin wasn’t the only project to encounter a short-term shift in sentiment. Memecoin price action, which has been largely subdued for the best part of 12 months, bounced back over the past week. Dogecoin (+7%), MemeCore (+10%) and Pepe (+7%) were key performers in this area, while Toncoin jumped more than 80% on the news that Telegram were reclaiming control of the crypto’s roadmap.
So, the broader market’s move to the upside has naturally raised the question: Is this momentum sustainable?
The answer is, of course, complex. The global macroeconomic situation remains difficult, with geopolitical conflict, struggling consumer sentiment and sticky inflation recurring themes.
No matter the outcome, the past month or so of positive price movement is a breath of fresh air in a year where the market has often been left gasping for Oxygen.
Reserve Bank of Australia eyes off stablecoin infrastructure
Australia’s central bank, the RBA, is investigating an overhaul of the current account-to-account (A2A) payment rails employed by local financial institutions, in a move that could potentially facilitate stablecoins and digital asset wallets moving forward.
The financial authority has requested public input on a proposed development of the existing A2A system, which could fundamentally change the back-end supporting payments across the nation.
The RBA’s document outlines several key goals: to create a financial system that ‘remains safe, reliable, low cost, easy to use, and inclusive’.
Of particular note is an emphasis on blockchain-related assets, with the draft stating: ‘the system should be able to integrate with new emerging technologies such as digital assets…[which are] expected to become a parallel value layer’.
Essentially, the RBA is suggesting that approved digital assets should work in tandem with other forms of digitised cash (e.g. online bank transfers) to provide a seamless customer experience.
Creating a safe and interoperable infrastructure that supports all forms of emerging financial technology is the goal here, and based on the language included, it appears the RBA consider at least some forms of digital assets relevant to Australia’s financial future.
The public response may shift the RBA’s attention further toward, or further away, from digital assets as part of the financial roadmap. With the consultation period expiring on April 30th, the industry should know soon enough just how deeply integrated digital assets could become in the coming years as structural changes are implemented.
The full 30-page draft vision can be accessed via the RBA’s website.
Is the Clarity ACT stalemate no longer in check?
After months of being stuck in congestion, traffic might be starting to make way for a prominent crypto bill to pass into US law.
The CLARITY Act, set to outline a key legislative framework for cryptocurrencies and stablecoins, passed the House of Reps and Senate Agricultural Committee earlier in the year – but has encountered a significant roadblock in the Senate Banking Committee.
The cause of the bottleneck? A dispute between banks and the digital asset industry over stablecoin yields. Several financial institutions in the US took umbrage with the CLARITY Act allowing non-banks to offer stablecoin interest that operated functionally similar to a high-interest savings account.
Banks have argued this could cause a deposit flight, which may fundamentally impact the existing US financial system.
However, Senators Thom Tillis and Angela Alsobrooks adjusted some of the terminology within the proposed Act in an attempt to compromise with the banking industry and push the legislation through to the Senate.
Essentially, the changes aim to prevent stablecoin rewards that operate in the same manner as current interest-bearing banking accounts. The exact mechanism of this change isn’t set in stone, and may experience some toing-and-froing before the Banking Committee finalise their decision.
But for now, ‘passive’ stablecoins will be blocked from generating yield, while ‘active’ use of the assets (via staking, trading or providing liquidity, for example), would be allowed.
The compromise has buoyed the spirits of some in the crypto industry, who now believe the CLARITY Act has a strong chance of making its way through the Senate ‘before the [US] Summer is out’.
Ben Knight
