Bitcoin steadies as ether slips on Clarity Act delay

Bitcoin traded near $63,460, little changed on the day, while ether slipped about 1.3 percent to near $1,858. Both held within a narrow range through the session.

Investors kept a close watch on the Clarity Act, the crypto market-structure bill that has stalled in Congress amid disagreements over ethics provisions for federal officials, with lawmakers' August recess approaching and passage before the break now in doubt. The stall was underscored by the departure of Tyler Williams, the Treasury Department's top digital-assets adviser and a key architect of the administration's crypto agenda, whose last day was 31 July.

Narrow, low-conviction trading like this is typical when a market is waiting on a specific date rather than reacting to fresh information.