CLARITY Act Advances as U.S. Bitcoin ETFs See $1B Outflows

The Senate Banking Committee approved H.R. 3633, the Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act, by a 15-9 vote on May 14. Senator Mike Crapo’s office confirmed the committee tally. The House passed H.R. 3633 in July 2025, and related legislation moved through the Senate Agriculture Committee in January 2026. The committee action advances the bill to the Senate for further consideration; full passage and enactment remain pending.

U.S. spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds recorded $648.6 million in net outflows on May 18, according to Farside data. Outflows that day were concentrated in three products: BlackRock’s IBIT saw $448.4 million withdrawn, ARKB recorded $109.6 million of outflows and FBTC had $63.4 million removed. Smaller outflows continued on May 19 and May 20.

CoinShares’ weekly fund-flow report showed $1.07 billion of outflows from digital asset investment products for the week, the firm’s first negative week in seven and the third-largest weekly outflow of 2026. Bitcoin accounted for $982 million of those withdrawals. Regionally, CoinShares reported $1.14 billion of outflows from U.S. products, while Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada recorded inflows for the same period.

Flows were selective across assets. CoinShares reported $67.6 million of inflows into XRP products and $55.1 million into Solana products for the week. Investors reduced allocations to Bitcoin in listed products while adding exposure to some alternative tokens.

Bitcoin’s price rose above $81,000 immediately after the committee vote but then retraced. The market tested the $76,000 area on May 18 and May 19 and traded around $77,200 by May 21. After the week’s moves, Bitcoin was near the $77,000 area.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported April consumer prices rose 0.6% month over month and 3.8% year over year, with energy up 17.9% and gasoline up 28.4% year over year. Those inflation figures preceded the week of ETF outflows.

Market participants pointed to leverage, options hedging and the break below $78,000 as technical factors that amplified selling pressure in listed products. The concentration of institutional demand through U.S.-listed ETFs coincided with the largest listed-product outflows for the week.

Traders and asset managers will watch the coming weeks of ETF flows as the bill moves through the Senate. If U.S. listed-product flows stabilize, the May 18 outflow could be viewed as a short-term reversal after prior inflows. Continued outflows would indicate that listed-product selling persisted after the committee vote.