Bitcoin’s move back above $70,000 is arriving at a moment when crypto’s policy and payments stories are starting to overlap more visibly. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has again urged Congress to move on the CLARITY Act, arguing that regulatory uncertainty is pushing digital-asset development overseas just as market interest begins to widen again.
That timing matters because stablecoins are increasingly being discussed less as a side pocket of crypto and more as a serious payments rail with room to scale. Chainalysis said adjusted stablecoin volume reached $28 trillion in 2025 and could climb to $719 trillion by 2035 through organic growth alone.
In its more aggressive scenario, which assumes stronger merchant adoption and a large generational wealth transfer into more crypto-native hands, annual volume could approach $1.5 quadrillion.
The forecast is obviously a long-range one, but it helps explain why crypto legislation is drawing more attention from policymakers and investors than it did a year ago. If bitcoin still works as the market’s flagship risk asset, stablecoins are increasingly being treated as the infrastructure layer that could make the next phase of adoption more measurable.
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That is part of what makes Bessent’s renewed push notable now: it lands at a point when the speculative and utility sides of crypto are starting to move closer together.
For markets, that creates a more layered backdrop than a simple price rebound. Bitcoin can still rally on improving macro tone and renewed risk appetite, but the policy side is beginning to carry more weight again, especially when it touches market structure and dollar-backed payments.
If Washington does move closer to a clearer framework, the next leg of the crypto story may end up being defined less by narrative alone and more by which parts of the sector can actually scale into mainstream financial use.
Bitcoin (CRYPTO: $BTC) is currently trading at $70,987.08 U.S. per digital token.
