Bitcoin is trading at roughly half its all-time high of $126,000, hovering around $62,600 as of August 3, despite a year and a half of pro-crypto policy from Washington. The SEC has dropped major enforcement actions, Congress passed stablecoin rules, and federal banking regulators have opened the door for banks to custody crypto — yet the market hasn't responded with the surge many expected.
From hostility to embrace
The U.S. government's stance on crypto flipped in January 2025, when an executive order endorsed blockchains and stablecoins. A second order in March 2025 created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve using forfeited Bitcoin — not open-market purchases. By April 2026, the SEC had dismissed seven crypto-related cases, including actions against Coinbase, Kraken, Consensys, Cumberland, and Binance.
Congress followed with the GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025, which set federal rules for stablecoin reserves, licensing, and disclosure. The Federal Reserve withdrew special notification requirements for bank crypto activity, and the OCC reaffirmed that banks could provide custody and execution services. Spot Bitcoin ETFs had already been approved in January 2024, before the regulatory shift.
The missing demand
But none of that translated into higher prices. Bitcoin peaked at $126,000 on October 6, 2025 — before most of the regulatory wins were fully in place. Since then, it's lost about half its value. The article that reported these facts offers a blunt explanation: removing penalties doesn't create a reason to own more. The regulatory environment went from hostile to friendly, but that alone didn't spark new buying.
Demand for crypto didn't increase. The market seems to have priced in the friendly policy shift early, and when the actual changes came, there was no fresh catalyst. The ETFs, approved in 2024, had already absorbed institutional interest. The Strategic Bitcoin Reserve didn't involve open-market purchases, so it didn't add buying pressure.
Stalled legislation
The broader market-structure bill remains unfinished in the Senate as of mid-2026. That bill would have clarified which digital assets are securities and which are commodities, potentially giving the industry a clearer legal framework. Without it, the regulatory picture is still incomplete — and the market appears to be waiting.
The next concrete step is the Senate's return in September. Whether lawmakers can push the market-structure bill across the finish line, and whether that would actually move prices, are open questions. For now, Bitcoin is stuck at $62,600, and the friendly Washington backdrop hasn't been enough to change that.
