The Daily: Clarity Act stalls as Democrats dig in, and more

The following article is adapted from The Block’s newsletter, The Daily, which comes out on weekday afternoons.

Happy Friday! Bitcoin briefly rose back above $65,000 as a shock U.S. jobs miss cooled fears of a September Fed rate hike, though analysts warn the path higher may be volatile.

In today's newsletter, the U.S. Senate delays a Clarity Act vote, a Michigan federal judge calls Coinbase's arguments "applesauce," MARA and CleanSpark post double-digit revenue drops, and more.

Meanwhile, BTCPay warns of an actively exploited critical vulnerability that could drain users' bitcoin funds.

👀 P.S. Don't forget to check out today's reader poll on Strategy later in the newsletter.

Senate delays Clarity Act vote until after August recess, Thune confirms

The U.S. Senate is delaying the Clarity Act until lawmakers return from the August recess, Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) confirmed to The Block, pushing any potential progress back to September.

• Thune said Senate Democrats were "insistent on no Clarity vote," but added that "we're getting that queued up first thing when we come back."
• A source familiar with the matter told The Block that the Democrats were reluctant to take a procedural vote due to its potential political implications ahead of the midterm elections.
• The delay gives lawmakers more time to garner the 60 votes needed to advance the bill, which requires Democratic support but has also seen some Republican backing waver.
• Meanwhile, President Trump is weighing the bill's latest ethics proposal from Senators Ruben Gallego and Thom Tillis, which would allow state attorneys general to enforce a ban on public officials and their spouses issuing or sponsoring digital assets.
• That proposal would also require Trump to divest from his crypto-related businesses, Bloomberg reported, as his official memecoin project and World Liberty Financial ties draw scrutiny.
• Industry groups said they were disappointed by the delay, but vowed to keep working with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, with the narrow September window seen as pivotal before November's elections.

'Applesauce': Michigan judge denies Coinbase bid to block state enforcement of sports event contracts

A Michigan federal judge rejected Coinbase's bid to block state enforcement against sports event contracts, ruling the exchange failed to establish that it is likely to succeed on the merits of its claims.

• Judge Shalina Kumar dismissed Coinbase's arguments as "applesauce," rejecting its claim that complying with both federal and state law would be "impossible" just because it's costly and challenging.
• Coinbase sued Michigan in December 2025, arguing prediction markets fall under the CFTC's exclusive jurisdiction rather than state gaming regulators, as it seeks to offer Kalshi's event contracts to users.
• The ruling adds to a growing legal fight over prediction markets, with Coinbase suing three states and the CFTC nine as both sides clash over who ultimately gets to regulate sports event contracts.

Bitcoin miners MARA and CleanSpark post double-digit revenue drops as AI infrastructure pivot continues

Bitcoin miners MARA and CleanSpark posted double-digit revenue drops in their latest financial quarters, with MARA down 27% to $174.9 million and CleanSpark declining 30.5% to $138 million as mining economics tightened.

• Both firms continued divesting into high-performance computing and AI infrastructure, and witnessed steep net losses, also impacted in part by fair-value hits on their bitcoin holdings.
• Bernstein analysts favor CleanSpark in the AI pivot race, maintaining an Outperform with a $24 target while holding MARA at Market-Perform and $17.
• The difference in rating comes down to execution, with CleanSpark having already signed a $6.6 billion, 20-year AI lease with a build underway, while MARA is still waiting on its first commercial AI deal.

Sui to add post-quantum signature schemes for quantum-safe accounts

Sui plans to add two NIST-approved post-quantum signature schemes, letting users adopt quantum-safe keys as the threat of quantum computing to onchain security grows.

• The network will use ML-DSA-65 for accounts, and the hash-based SLH-DSA-SHA2-128s for high-value vaults, with the two based on different math so a flaw in one doesn't break the other.
• Users do not have to generate new phrases or move to another address, according to the team, since Sui keys derive from an existing seed and address aliases let accounts swap authorization keys without moving assets.
• Sui is targeting quantum-safe vaults on mainnet this year and native accounts on mainnet by Q1 2027, framing the upgrade as opt-in with nothing existing changing.

Late Ondo founder's mother seeks control of company and removal of De Bode as CEO

Kathleen Allman, mother of late Ondo Finance founder Nathan Allman, is suing to take control of the company and oust current CEO Ian De Bode, according to a Delaware court filing.

• She alleges De Bode wrongly declared himself CEO without board approval after her son's death, and says that as representative of the estate she holds a controlling stake and can reconstitute the board.
• De Bode said the allegations were "meritless," arguing the company still has the backing of its lead investors and the Ondo Foundation under his leadership, despite the Allman-led board saying it already voted to remove him.

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Looking ahead to next week

• U.S. CPI inflation data are due on Wednesday. UK GDP figures are out on Thursday, alongside U.S. jobless claims and PPI numbers.
• U.S. FOMC member Thomas Barkin speaks on Thursday.
• Aptos, Avalanche and Linea are among the crypto projects set for token unlocks.

Never miss a beat with The Block's daily digest of the most influential events happening across the digital asset ecosystem.