Bitcoin Holds Above $80,000 as Schwab Launches Spot Crypto and CLARITY Act Faces Senate Committee Vote

Bitcoin (BTC) is trading near $80,600 in Wednesday morning US trade after opening the session at $80,473.98, down about 1.5% from Tuesday's open. Ethereum (ETH) is changing hands around $2,299 after opening at $2,274.41, down 2.8% from the prior session. Both majors are holding firm despite hotter than expected April US inflation data and a stronger dollar, with traders watching President Trump's high stakes summit with President Xi Jinping in Beijing for any read through to risk assets.

Schwab Crypto Goes Live for Retail

Charles Schwab, which manages roughly $11.77 trillion in client assets across 39.1 million active brokerage accounts as of the end of March, began rolling out its spot cryptocurrency trading platform Schwab Crypto to a first wave of eligible retail clients on Tuesday. The service offers direct Bitcoin and Ethereum trading at a 75 basis point fee per trade and is available in every US state except New York and Louisiana. Charles Schwab Premier Bank acts as primary custodian and Paxos handles trade execution and sub custody.

The launch brings one of the largest traditional brokerages in the world into direct spot crypto for the first time, in direct competition with Robinhood, Coinbase and Kraken. Schwab has said its clients already hold roughly 20% of all assets invested in US spot crypto exchange traded products, indicating built in demand. Morgan Stanley is also preparing a comparable spot crypto launch through E TRADE.

CLARITY Act Markup Set for Thursday

The Senate Banking Committee is set to mark up the 309 page Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act on Thursday, May 14, at 10:30 AM ET. The bill, which already passed the House in 2025, would split crypto oversight between the SEC and the CFTC, creating defined regulatory lanes for digital commodities, digital asset securities and payment stablecoins. Senator Tim Scott, the committee chairman, has called the threshold the "red zone," with all 13 Republican votes needed on a 13 to 11 panel.

Crypto policy analysts have noted that provisions in the draft would, in effect, prevent the SEC from classifying Bitcoin and Ethereum as securities, by tying that status to the existence of US listed spot exchange traded products before January 1, 2026. A 60 day non objection certification process for other token issuers is also included in the draft text. Polymarket users currently price the odds of the CLARITY Act becoming law in 2026 at roughly 62% to 75% depending on the contract.

ETF Flows Cool After Strong April

US spot Bitcoin ETFs are coming off a mixed early May. The first week of the month recorded over $1 billion in inflows before the trend reversed, with the category posting a $268.5 million outflow on May 7 after FBTC and IBIT led the selling. BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT), the largest fund in the category, recorded a small $7.43 million outflow on Tuesday, May 12, against $67.25 billion in assets under management, which analysts characterized as tactical profit taking rather than a sentiment shift.

Macro Backdrop and What It Means for Investors

April US consumer inflation came in at 3.8% year over year, the highest reading since May 2023 and above the 3.7% forecast. The print pushed Treasury yields higher and traders have priced out Federal Reserve rate cuts through year end. Bitcoin's resilience above $80,000 in that environment is being read by some desks as a sign that institutional positioning and ETF demand remain structurally supportive even when the rate backdrop turns less friendly.

For investors, the setup keeps crypto exposed names in focus, from spot ETF issuers and crypto exchanges to Bitcoin treasury companies, payment processors and the broader blockchain ecosystem. A clean committee vote on the CLARITY Act on Thursday would be the most direct near term catalyst for the sector, while continued progress on the Schwab Crypto rollout and other traditional brokerage launches points to the long term mainstreaming of digital assets.