Top Crypto News This Week: US CPI, Circle Earnings, Token Unlocks, CLARITY Act

Key Insights

• The top crypto news this week will be the upcoming CLARITY Act markup.
• The United States will release the latest Consumer Price Index data on Tuesday.
• Circle Internet will release its financial results on Monday.

Bitcoin traded above $80,000 on Monday as investors prepared for a busy week of macroeconomic and regulatory events. The total crypto market capitalization held near $2.69 trillion, reflecting cautious positioning ahead of the latest inflation data, Circle Internet earnings, and the Senate’s CLARITY Act markup.

Markets also remained focused on upcoming token unlocks tied to Pump.fun, Starknet, Sei, and Cronos. Together, these events could influence volatility across the crypto sector this week.

Top Crypto News: CLARITY Act Markup

The main crypto news to watch this week will be the upcoming CLARITY Act markup, which will happen on May 14 this year. This will be an important event that will happen before the final bill is taken to the full Senate for voting.

Data on Polymarket shows that there is a 74% probability that the CLARITY Act will become law this year, a major milestone in the United States. It will be the second most consequential crypto bill in the United States after the GENIUS Act, which focused on the stablecoin industry.

The bill would shift most crypto oversight toward the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. It shifts most of the regulatory burden to the CFTC, which most players in the crypto industry prefer.

While most of these details were agreed last year, the main challenge was on stablecoins, with banks rejecting the ability of crypto companies like Kraken and Coinbase to pay a stablecoin yield.

US Consumer Inflation Report

The other important crypto news will come out on Tuesday this week when the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the latest consumer inflation report.

Economists surveyed by Reuters expect headline inflation to rise from 3.3% in March to 3.6% in April, partly because of higher recent energy prices. Core inflation trends will also remain important for traders assessing the Federal Reserve’s next move.

The report followed stronger-than-expected labor market data released last week. The United States added more than 115,000 jobs in April, while the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.3%.

Therefore, a stronger-than-expected inflation report means that the Federal Reserve will maintain a more hawkish tone this year. In a recent note, analysts at Goldman Sachs predicted that the bank will cut in December, while JP Morgan predicted that it will hike in the third quarter of next year.

Bitcoin and the broader crypto market do well when the Federal Reserve has embraced a more dovish tone.

Circle Internet Financial Results

The other crucial crypto news this year will be the upcoming Circle Internet financial results, which will come out on Monday during the US market session.

These are important numbers considering that Circle is the second-biggest player in the stablecoin industry after Tether.

Analysts are optimistic that Circle’s business continued doing well in the first quarter, helped by the elevated short-term interest rates and the rising amount of USDC in circulation.

Elevated Treasury yields continued supporting Circle’s interest income model. The ten-year yield held near 4.39%, while USDC circulation climbed toward $80 billion.

The average estimate among analysts is that the company’s revenue will come in at $714 million, up sharply from the $517 million it made in the same period last year.

Pump.fun, Starknet, Sei, and Cronos Token Unlocks

There will be some notable token unlocks this week, with the most notable ones being popular coins like Pump.fun (PUMP), Starknet (STRK), Sei (SEI), and Cronos (CRO). PUMP, which has a market capitalization of over $700 million, will unlock 10 billion tokens worth over $21 million on Wednesday.

Starknet, which has a $300 million market capitalization, will release 163 million tokens valued at $8.34 million. 58.9% of the STRK tokens have already been unlocked. Sei and Cronos will unlock 121 million and 1.17 billion tokens this week. In most cases, large token unlocks normally lead to higher volatility.

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