Crypto Market Weekly: Hawkish FOMC, Strategy’s STRC Crisis, CLARITY Act Progress, and Bitcoin’s Crash Warning

The crypto market has seen an eventful week, with the Federal Market Open Committee (FOMC) meeting that occurred on June 17 being the main highlight after the new Fed Chair gave a hawkish speech.

Strategy’s STRC preferred stock that touched an all-time low of $82 on June 18 also shaped crypto conversations this week and prompted CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju to issue a warning that Bitcoin price may crash further.

Meanwhile, Senator Bill Hagerty has said the CLARITY Act might be passed before or after Congress breaks for recess on July 4.

Hawkish Fed Meeting Shaped Crypto Prices This Week

The new Fed Chair, Kevin Warsh, chaired his first Fed meeting on June 17, and his sentiments were hawkish, and this pushed Bitcoin and other crypto market prices lower.

Warsh left rates unchanged between 3.50% and 3.75%, and this prompted President Trump, who has been pushing for rate cuts, to respond on Truth Social, saying, “It’s all right. Whatever.”

Warsh also reiterated that the Fed still plans to bring inflation down from 4,2% to the Fed’s target of 2%, but doing this might require a rate hike.

A hawkish Fed is usually bearish for the price of Bitcoin. This is why BTC price failed to drop to $63,000 on June 18 as the hawkish FOMC meeting overshadowed easing geopolitical tensions.

Strategy’s STRC Crash Sparks Crypto Market Concerns

The STRC preferred stock by Strategy dropped to an all-time low of $82 on June 18, triggering concerns that investors who might lose money from STRC could sue the company.

STRC is the debt instrument that Strategy uses to get money to buy more Bitcoin, and it trades at $100 to avoid Strategy raising the dividend yield and increasing its liabilities.

STRC dropped below its $100 par value on May 15, and it has never reclaimed this price since then.

The ongoing drop has prompted Bitcoin critic Peter Schiff to warn that some crypto market investors might sue Strategy’s executive chairman, Michael Saylor.

Strive CEO Matt Cole has also blamed the ongoing drop in STRC on a lot of leverage that was taken on the preferred stock that is now being liquidated through forced selling.

MSTR stock also closed trading at $112 on June 18, its lowest price since February 4, 2026.

CLARITY Act Nears Make-or-Break Date

Senator Bill Hagherty says that CLARITY Act might go to the Senate before or after it breaks for recess on July 4.

Still, data from Kalshi shows that the crypto market has given up on the bill getting approval this year because there is now a 45% chance that CLARITY Act is going to pass this year.

CoinGape also reported that the US Senate is holding last-minute meetings to discuss the contentious issues, as they seek to pass the bill before the mid-term elections in November.

Former Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terett also warned that the stablecoin yield came under focus again this week, as state bankers hold conferences to enlighten Senators outside the Banking Committee about how stablecoin yield could affect banking.

CryptoQuant CEO Reveals Biggest Risk to Bitcoin

It was also this week that CryptoQuant’s Young Ju revealed the biggest risk to Bitcoin, saying that it is not a price crash, but rather it is “boredom.”

Ju noted that most of the narratives for why the Bitcoin price should go up are already at the point of exhaustion. He says ETFs are live, US crypto market legislation is shaping out, and the US President is now pro-crypto.

He noted that there is no new catalyst that could help Bitcoin go up like it has happened before, adding that the community needs a “new center of gravity” to unite them.

Ju further warned that even if Saylor’s Strategy keeps buying Bitcoin, it will not prevent it from crashing because of a lack of fresh narratives to pull in buyers.