Bitcoin pushed through $96,000 for the first time since early March on Saturday, trading as high as $96,318 in late-afternoon U.S. dealing as the cryptocurrency extended a 9.4% rally that began Friday with President Trump's executive order expanding the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve. On-chain analytics firm Glassnode reported that wallets holding more than 1,000 BTC — so-called "whales" — added approximately 28,400 BTC over the past 72 hours, the largest weekend accumulation since November 2024.
The buying surge is widely interpreted as positioning ahead of Tuesday's scheduled Senate Banking Committee vote on the CLARITY Act, which would establish a comprehensive regulatory framework distinguishing digital commodities under CFTC oversight from securities under SEC jurisdiction. Industry lobbyists report the bill has secured commitments from at least 14 of the committee's 24 members.
Altcoins Track Higher
Ethereum climbed 5.1% to $4,072, fully recovering from last week's KelpDAO-related losses. Solana surged 8.7% to $237, with traders citing speculation that VanEck's spot SOL ETF application could see preliminary SEC engagement following CLARITY passage. XRP gained 9.4% to $3.13, while Cardano added 6.8% to $1.18.
Total cryptocurrency market capitalization reached $3.51 trillion — an all-time weekend record — surpassing the previous high of $3.43 trillion set in late February. Trading volume on Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance.US combined exceeded $24 billion in the past 24 hours, roughly triple the typical Saturday baseline.
ETF Flows Set Records
U.S. spot Bitcoin ETF net inflows reached $4.32 billion for the week ended Friday, the second-largest weekly figure on record. The iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) accounted for $2.78 billion of those flows, while Fidelity's FBTC took in another $890 million. MicroStrategy — now formally rebranded as Strategy under ticker