U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs lose $450 million after Senate fails to advance Clarity Act

U.S. spot bitcoin ETFs experienced outflows of roughly $450 million on Tuesday, the biggest single‑day withdrawal since June 25. The sell‑off followed the Senate’s procedural vote, which fell about ten votes short of the 60 required to advance the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.

Market reaction

Bitcoin was little changed at the close of the day, trading around $75,880, but remained about 8 % below its recent high from September 4. Regulatory‑sensitive tokens fell sharply: Stellar (XLM) dropped 9.6 % and XRP slipped 8.1 % over 24 hours. Among the CoinDesk 100 constituents, 95 of 100 lost value during the session.

Derivatives activity

Futures liquidations exceeded $570 million, the most since August 22, as leveraged positions were forced to unwind. The taker long‑short ratio turned bearish, with shorts accounting for 51.5 % of volume. Bitcoin futures open interest rose to 688,000 BTC, while the 24‑hour cumulative volume delta stayed negative, indicating net short execution.

Broader market context

Traditional markets were steadier: Nasdaq‑100 futures added 0.33 %, gold rose 0.88 %, and silver gained 1.37 %. The U.S. Dollar Index was unchanged. Attention now shifts to the Federal Reserve’s interest‑rate decision later in the day, which many market participants expect to be a rate hike.

Notable token moves

• Arbitrum (ARB) rose 16 % after a forecast targeting a $10 price by 2030.
• Synapse (SYN) more than doubled, likely driven by a short‑squeeze dynamic.
• Zcash (ZEC) added 6.9 % to $1,186.75, leading privacy tokens.
• Dash (DASH) climbed 2.9 % to $51.66.
• Perpetual exchange token LIT gained 6 % to $4.27; Raydium (RAY) rose 5.4 % to $1.30.
• DeFi tokens AAVE, JUP and ETHFI each fell more than 2 %.

Outlook

The Clarity Act’s failure effectively ends prospects for market‑structure legislation in the Senate for 2026, with Congress expected to be split in January. Traders are watching both the upcoming Fed decision and the evolving regulatory environment for further price direction.