Live markets: Bitcoin rises to five-week high above $66,400 on rising hope for Clarity Act

liveUpdated 4 minutes agoBitcoin ETFs have pulled in roughly $727 million over the past week, the most sustained stretch of buying since the record outflows of June.Bitcoin ETFs post a fifth straight day of inflows. (SoSoValue)Bitcoin hits five-week high above $66,400 ahead of U.S. stock market openExtending its 24-hour gain to just shy of 3%, bitcoin (BTC) hit $66,400 for the first time in about five weeks.Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), and solana (SOL) are up similarly.The advance comes as U.S. stocks are set for sizable opening gains, led by the Nasdaq’s 1.2% advance as recently beaten-up chip stocks rally.The news out of Iran isn’t great — with attacks continuing and oil again higher — but, for the moment, markets are looking past that conflict.For crypto in particular, movement on advancing the Clarity Act could be helping to improve the mood. Odds of its passage have risen to nearly 50% after a report that President Trump had agreed to a key ethics provision.Jack Mallers exiting as XXI Capital CEO as deal for Strike collapsesTwenty One Capital (XXI) Tuesday morning announced the exit of CEO Jack Mallers to be replaced by board member Raphael Zagury, the founder of bitcoin miner Elektron Energy.Mallers will focus his efforts on Strike, a bitcoin financial services company he founded and leads as CEO.Earlier this year, Twenty One had announced plans to merge with Strike (and Elektron Energy), but that deal is no longer being contemplated.XXI is the second-largest corporate holder of bitcoin with 43,514 coins, according to BitcoinTreasuries.Net.XXI shares are little changed pre-market at $5.37, but down from a high above $30 during last summer’s digital asset treasury company frenzy.London Stock Exchange plans 24-hour weekday trading venueThe London Stock Exchange (LSEG) plans to introduce a near-continuous trading venue aimed at digital, algorithmic and agent-based trading. Client testing on the platform, called LSE 24, is expected to begin by the end of the year, with exchange-traded products scheduled to launch in the first half of 2027, LSEG said.Hedge funds are dumping tech stocks at the fastest pace in a decadeHedge funds have sold U.S. information technology stocks in six of the last eight weeks, making the eight-week total the largest in at least 10 years, according to The Kobeissi Letter, citing prime brokerage data. Technology was the single most-sold U.S. sector last week.That has cut tech's share of hedge fund market exposure to its lowest since February, and at the current pace it could fall to a five-year low as early as next week. The takeaway is that funds are moving to the sidelines, not rotating from one trade into another.For bitcoin, broad de-risking is not the same as the AI trade simply moving elsewhere. It leaves crypto without the risk-on backdrop that a straightforward tech-to-chips rotation still provided.Bitcoin ETFs post a fifth straight day of inflows, the steadiest run in monthsU.S. spot bitcoin ETFs took in about $227 million on July 20, a fifth consecutive day of net inflows for the first time since late April, per SoSoValue data. Ether ETFs added about $38 million, led by BlackRock's ETHA.The five-day run has pulled in roughly $727 million, the most sustained stretch of buying since the record outflows of June. Total bitcoin ETF assets have climbed back to about $79 billion from a July low near $75 billion. BlackRock's ETHA drove the ether side with about $34 million.Bitcoin has held its range near $63,000 as last week's chip-driven selloff paused, and the return of the ETF bid is the piece that had been missing through a quarter of mostly outflows.The test is what it holds through. The Fed meets July 28 and 29, and Big Tech earnings land this week, with Alphabet, Tesla and Intel reporting the numbers that will show whether AI spending, the trade bitcoin has moved with all month, is still climbing.12345678910