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Bitcoin Holds Near $68K as Trump Backs Crypto Regulation but Iran Tensions Cap Gains

Bitcoin steadied on Wednesday, drawing limited support from comments by U.S. President Donald Trump calling for stronger regulatory backing for the cryptocurrency industry. However, persistent concerns about the escalating U.S.–Iran conflict and its potential inflationary impact kept broader crypto sentiment subdued.

The world’s largest cryptocurrency was little changed at $68,147.8 by 01:30 ET (06:30 GMT). Bitcoin briefly climbed back toward $69,000 earlier this week before trimming those gains.

Trump criticizes banks over crypto legislation

Trump voiced support for the crypto sector in a social media post late Tuesday, criticizing major U.S. banks for allegedly trying to undermine the GENIUS Act, a law regulating stablecoins, by delaying progress on another key bill — the CLARITY Act — in the U.S. Senate.

According to a report by Politico, Trump met privately with Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong shortly before publishing the message. Armstrong has been an outspoken critic of proposals to ban yield payments on stablecoins.

The GENIUS Act, passed by Congress in June 2025, established a regulatory framework for stablecoins and prohibited issuers such as Tether from paying yields directly to holders.

However, the law still allows third-party platforms such as crypto exchanges to offer yield products tied to stablecoins — a provision that large banking groups argue creates a regulatory loophole.

Banking institutions have been lobbying to include a broader ban on all stablecoin yield payments within the CLARITY Act, legislation designed to define the overall regulatory structure of the cryptocurrency market.

While the CLARITY bill was approved by the House of Representatives in July, it remains stalled in the Senate. Disagreements over stablecoin yield rules have been a major sticking point, with banks arguing that such payments should be regulated similarly to interest paid on traditional bank deposits.

Geopolitical tensions keep crypto cautious

Despite the regulatory optimism, the broader cryptocurrency market remained under pressure as geopolitical uncertainty dominated investor sentiment.

The conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran entered its fifth consecutive day, with military operations continuing across the region.

Markets remain concerned that prolonged fighting could disrupt global oil supplies and push energy prices higher — a scenario that could fuel inflation and prompt central banks to adopt a more hawkish stance on interest rates.

Those inflation fears have kept risk aversion elevated, limiting appetite for speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.

Altcoins trade mixed

The broader crypto market moved mostly sideways on Wednesday.

Ethereum slipped 1% to $1,979.99, while XRP eased 0.2% to $1.3594. Solana and BNB traded largely flat, while Cardano lagged with a 3% decline.

Among meme tokens, Dogecoin fell 2.6%, while $TRUMP dropped 3.4%.

For now, crypto markets appear caught between regulatory optimism in the United States and macroeconomic headwinds from geopolitics and inflation concerns, leaving prices confined to a narrow trading range.

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