Bitcoin’s Unlikely Trifecta: A Senate Victory, a 13% Dividend Pledge, and a Market That Won’t Euphoria

The Clarity Act advances in the Senate, Strive announces daily cash dividends from Bitcoin reserves, and major institutions reposition—while Bitcoin trades at $80,771 amid mixed signals.

Bitcoin has spent the past week straddling two very different narratives. On one side sits a tangible regulatory win in Washington; on the other, a corporate treasury experiment that could reshape how companies treat their crypto holdings. Add a set of on-chain metrics that stubbornly refuse to flash red, and the picture is as layered as it is contradictory.

Washington Edges Closer

The Clarity Act cleared the US Senate Banking Committee by a 15-9 vote, with two Democrats crossing the aisle. Bitcoin briefly nudged above $82,000 on the news before settling back. The legislation doesn’t directly govern Bitcoin itself, but its passage signals a more defined regulatory framework for digital assets — a development that could lower the barrier for institutional entry.

Still, the road to law remains bumpy. Unresolved ethics rules and the need for 60 votes in the full Senate mean the bill is far from a done deal. The full chamber vote is expected before the parliamentary recess on May 21. For now, Bitcoin trades at $80,771, up 1.88% on the day but still 8.97% in the red year-to-date — a reminder that legislative tailwinds alone cannot erase macro headwinds.

Strive’s Radical Yield Play

While the Senate deliberates, one company is forging ahead with a strategy that links Bitcoin reserves directly to shareholder returns. Strive, the US firm behind the SATA preferred share, will begin paying daily cash dividends starting mid-June 2026. The target annual rate is 13%, which, thanks to the compounding effect of daily payouts, works out to an effective yield of nearly 14%.

For the second half of June, the dividend is already set at $0.0542 per share per business day. Strive is positioning itself as a pure dividend stock — but the foundation is anything but traditional. The company holds more than 15,000 Bitcoin, the ninth-largest corporate stash globally. That hoard, however, comes at a cost.

In the first quarter of 2026, Strive recorded a net loss of nearly $266 million, driven almost entirely by mark-to-market writedowns on its digital assets totaling almost $296 million. Despite the red ink, the balance sheet is clean: all outstanding convertible notes have been retired, leaving the company debt-free with roughly $88 million in cash on top of its Bitcoin portfolio. Every further price slide below current levels will force additional writedowns before the dividend program even begins.

Institutional Chess Moves

While Strive doubles down on crypto, major institutional players are repositioning. Jane Street slashed its exposure to Bitcoin ETFs in the first quarter, reducing its stake in the BlackRock iShares Bitcoin Trust to 5.9 million shares. JPMorgan, by contrast, boosted its position in the same ETF by 174%, bringing the market value of that block to around $390 million.

The broader market is not immune to pain. The crypto exchange Bullish reported a first-quarter net loss of $605 million, again due to falling digital asset prices.

Nothing to See in the On-Chain Data

Away from the headlines, the MVRV Z-Score is flashing an unusual signal. The metric, which measures the gap between market value and realized value, sits near 1 despite Bitcoin trading above $80,000. In prior cycles, readings above 6 often marked late-stage euphoria. The peak in the most recent post-halving rally reached only around 3.5 — well short of previous extremes.

That absence of retail frenzy suggests the market is not overextended, even at a price that looks high historically. One reason: supply dynamics have shifted. Exchange balances have fallen from over 3.3 million BTC in early 2022 to roughly 3 million BTC today. At the same time, US spot Bitcoin ETFs now custody nearly 1.3 million BTC, equivalent to about 6.5% of circulating supply.

Less free float can cushion selloffs, but it can also amplify pressure if ETF outflows or institutional rebalancing turns sudden.

The 82,000 Boundary

Technically, Bitcoin remains just below its 200-day moving average near $82,100 — a gap of 1.62%. The 50-day average, at $74,749, sits comfortably below, giving a mixed picture. The RSI of 48.5 points to a neutral tone, not an overheated one.

The macro side, however, has turned less friendly. The US Producer Price Index rose to 6%, its highest annual reading since 2022. Sticky inflation tends to weigh on risk assets, even when regulatory clarity improves the backdrop.

For now, the dance between a supportive Senate committee vote and an inflation-wary macro environment keeps Bitcoin pinned in a narrow range. The next real test comes when lawmakers return to the floor — and whether the market can reclaim the zone around $82,000 before then.