Bitcoin Surges Past $86,000 Despite Crypto Bill Setback

Last week's failure of a highly anticipated crypto bill has not dampened Bitcoin buyers' enthusiasm.

On Monday, the leading cryptocurrency's price jumped almost 7% in 24 hours, six days after lawmakers blocked the Clarity Act.

Industry leaders have long demanded clear regulations for the crypto sector. However, the main legislative effort, the crypto market structure bill, stalled last week when most Democrats objected to its ethics provisions.

JUST IN: Bitcoin surges to $86,030 pic.twitter.com/3Z0RvIVvJ3

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) September 21, 2026

Bitcoin's price has recovered from the bill's failure, currently at $86,225, after hitting a high of $86,247 on Monday morning in New York.

Over the past 30 days, Bitcoin has risen 10%. Its strong rally began in August, the best in years, following the U.S. Treasury's announcement that it would double the size of its liquidity-support buyback operations.

Additionally, Bitcoin's price got a boost when President Donald Trump hosted a White House meeting with crypto industry leaders that same week and urged lawmakers to pass the Clarity Act, which he described as "powerful".

The bill was blocked by both parties, but Democrats had been accused by pro-crypto lawmakers of deliberately stalling it for months.

For Democratic lawmakers, the main obstacle was the conflict of interest from the Trump family's crypto investments. Leading up to his return to office, the president and his sons started several digital asset ventures, and Trump's financial disclosure showed about $1.4 billion in crypto-related income.

According to the White House, Trump's assets are held in a trust managed by his children, and there is no conflict.

Senator Elizabeth Warren, one of the crypto industry's harshest critics, told Congress before the vote that the bill "posed a massive risk to families."

Even though the bill did not advance, the SEC and CFTC are continuing with rulemaking.

U.S. Bitcoin ETFs saw positive net inflows last week, following an initial period of investor withdrawals at the start of the week.

On Thursday and Friday, investors purchased about $593 million in shares of Bitcoin ETFs from BlackRock, Fidelity, and Grayscale, per data from Farside Investors.

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates last week as anticipated, but Bitcoin's price remained unaffected. Historically, Bitcoin has performed well in low-interest-rate environments.