Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has said Bitcoin could be entering its next bull cycle as the asset trades above $72,000 ahead of a key U.S. Senate vote on crypto legislation.
Summary
- Bitcoin has climbed above $72,000 after gaining more than 11% within 24 hours.
- Armstrong identified the September CLARITY Act vote as the market’s next major policy event.
- The Sep. 15 Senate action is a procedural vote, not a final decision on the bill.
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs attracted $517 million on Aug. 19, according to SoSoValue.
Armstrong sees a possible Bitcoin bull cycle
In an Aug. 20 interview with CNBC, Armstrong said the crypto market “is likely at the starting point of the next bull market.”
Armstrong based his view partly on the length of the recent downturn and Bitcoin’s position in its market cycle. He also identified the Senate’s scheduled action on the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act and Bitcoin’s historical performance during the final three months of the year as possible catalysts.
While discussing the coming congressional vote, Armstrong described Sep. 15 as “what’s most important next” for the crypto industry. Passage of market-structure legislation could give digital asset companies clearer rules in the United States, according to the Coinbase executive.
October, November and December have also produced some of Bitcoin’s strongest historical returns, CoinGlass data shows. Traders commonly call October “Uptober” because of that record, although past monthly returns do not establish how the asset will perform in 2026.
Bitcoin broke its October winning streak in 2025, when the asset posted its first loss for the month since 2018, according to Reuters. The decline showed that seasonal patterns can fail when macroeconomic pressure, weak risk appetite, or heavy derivatives positioning outweigh historical trends.
Armstrong’s cycle argument also follows Bitcoin’s April 2024 halving, which reduced the reward paid to miners from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC per block. Earlier halvings preceded major rallies, but each cycle developed under different liquidity, regulatory, and economic conditions.
Bitcoin price has returned above $72,000
Bitcoin was trading near $72,660 on Aug. 20 after rising about 6.2% during the latest session. The asset reached an intraday high of roughly $72,868, extending a rally that lifted it from below $65,000 earlier in the week.
As previously covered by crypto.news, Bitcoin gained 11.4% within 24 hours and approached $72,000 after U.S. Treasury buyback changes, ETF inflows, and forced short liquidations supported the move.
More than $1 billion in bearish crypto positions were liquidated within one hour during the initial breakout, according to CoinGlass data cited in the report. When Bitcoin moved through resistance between roughly $65,000 and $67,000, traders holding leveraged short positions had to close their bets, adding forced buying to the rally.
US spot Bitcoin ETFs provided another source of demand. SoSoValue recorded $517 million in net inflows on Aug. 19, the products’ strongest daily intake since May. The total exceeded the roughly $172 million collected across all of July.
Earlier in August, the funds had already recorded four consecutive positive sessions. Farside Investors data showed that they attracted $137.6 million on Aug. 6, bringing inflows over the four-session period to about $763.6 million, according to an earlier report on Bitcoin ETF demand.
The latest price increase has also taken Bitcoin back above the $69,000 to $70,000 area that had acted as resistance. Technical data cited in a recent Bitcoin chart review placed the next resistance around $72,500, while a daily close below $69,000 could weaken the breakout.
CLARITY Act faces a procedural vote on September 15
The U.S. Senate’s official cloture record shows that Majority Leader John Thune filed a motion on Aug. 8 to proceed with H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act.
The motion is expected to face a procedural vote on Sep. 15 after senators return to Washington on Sep. 14. A successful vote would allow the Senate to begin formally considering the legislation, but it would not amount to final passage.
Senators could still debate and amend the proposal before holding a separate approval vote. If the Senate passes a version that differs from the House measure, lawmakers from both chambers would need to reconcile the texts before sending the legislation to President Donald Trump.
The House approved its version by a 294–134 vote in July 2025, with 78 Democrats joining Republicans. In May 2026, the Senate Banking Committee advanced its portion of the legislation by a 15–9 vote after Democratic Sens. Ruben Gallego and Angela Alsobrooks supported it.
Reaching the Senate floor will require 60 votes. Republicans control 53 seats, leaving the bill dependent on Democratic or independent support as lawmakers continue negotiating several disputed sections.
Reuters reported that unresolved issues include political ethics restrictions, stablecoin rewards, anti-money-laundering requirements, decentralized finance, and the treatment of tokenized securities. The proposal would also divide regulatory duties between the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
Under the Senate draft, digital commodity exchanges, brokers, and dealers would be treated as financial institutions under the Bank Secrecy Act. Covered companies would have to follow customer identification, due diligence, and anti-money-laundering rules.
The legislation would allow certain crypto businesses to raise as much as $50 million annually and $200 million in total without completing full SEC registration. It would also create tests for deciding whether a decentralized finance platform is sufficiently decentralized or should face requirements similar to those of an intermediary.
Armstrong maintains a bullish long-term Bitcoin forecast
During a separate Fox Business interview on Aug. 20, Armstrong said Bitcoin could reach between $300,000 and $400,000 by 2030.
“I think over the next couple of years — if I say 2030 — I think it’s very likely we’ll see $300,000 and $400,000 Bitcoin, and we’ll see how it goes.”
The forecast would require Bitcoin to rise more than fourfold from its price near $72,660 to reach the lower end of Armstrong’s range. A move to $400,000 would represent an increase of about 450%.
Coinbase shares also advanced alongside the crypto market. COIN traded near $171.34 on August 20, up about 7%, after reaching an intraday high of $174.75. The U.S.-listed exchange had a market capitalization of approximately $45.2 billion at the time.
Coinbase reported a $359 million net loss for the second quarter, while Bitcoin generated 12% of the company’s revenue, down from more than half historically. Subscription and services revenue reached $555 million, compared with $6 million per quarter in 2020, according to the company’s reported figures.
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