By Adam Clark

The price of Bitcoin was little changed Monday, while smaller cryptocurrencies moved lower, as investors looked ahead to the potential benefits from a bill to regulate the cryptocurrency industry.

Bitcoin was trading slightly higher at $81,561. The largest cryptocurrency has struggled to sustain gains beyond the $80,000 threshold after reclaiming that level.

"The $80,000 level has become a key psychological threshold, but what's relevant isn't just the price, but the flow structure," wrote eToro analyst Javier Molina in a research note. "ETFs [exchange-traded funds] continue to absorb supply, and the asset is increasingly behaving as a strategic position for some institutional capital."

Ethereum and XRP fell 1.5% and 2.2%, respectively. Solana was up 1%.

The Senate Banking Committee is expected to conduct a markup on the so-called Clarity Act, a broad bill to regulate the crypto industry, this week.

It's a step forward in the process but the bill would ultimately need to get 60 votes to pass the full Senate. A good indication of whether that has a chance will be how many Democratic votes it first gets in the Senate Banking Committee.

Write to Adam Clark at adam.clark@barrons.com

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May 11, 2026 14:00 ET (18:00 GMT)

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