In today’s Capitol Hill’s powerful speech, Sen. Cynthia Ramis made her stance clear: the United States is out of hours and is out of traditional choice. “The Bitcoin Act is the only solution to our country’s 36T debt,” she said, noting that she has President Donald Trump’s support for her initiative. “We are grateful to the advanced president who not only recognizes this but acts on it.”

If enacted by law, the Bitcoin Act confirms that the US purchases 200,000 Bitcoin per year for five years.

Lummis laid out three American passes. Collapse under default and either make the spiral hyperinflation or climb using Bitcoin and technology. Her money is in the code. She believes that a fixed supply of Bitcoin will restore long-term financial discipline. “The system is built on trust. If we don’t pay back what we owe, that trust will disappear,” she said. “We’d hit something worse than the Great Repression.”

Inflation, she warned, would destroy working Americans if money was printed ongoing. “We’re talking about Zimabubwe, at the Weimar Republic level,” Ramis said. “Everything will be affordable. That’s not the future I want Americans to face.”

Lummis offers deflationary alternatives. “Technology increases productivity and reduces costs. It gives us room to grow faster than our debt,” she explains, referring to AI, robots and cryptography as the tools we need to turn the economy around. “They are the only real weapons we have.”

The Bitcoin Act, first introduced last summer and reintroduced at the 2025 Bitcoin for America summit, has increased bipartisan support in both the House and Senate.

Rep. Nick Begich is leading the accusation in the House. His version of the bill reflects Lummis’ Senate proposals and signals that increase inter-chamber integrity over Bitcoin policy. “Americans deserve a financial and monetary foundation built on assets that represent discipline, structure and confidence,” he tweeted today. “Bitcoin is distributed to all three and we are proud to be able to lead this effort at home with the Bitcoin Act.”

President Trump has already signed an executive order to create a federal Bitcoin Reserve using BTC seized through confiscation earlier this year to establish an estimated 200,000 BTC stockpile. Taxpayers do not cost anything. Executive Director Boheins confirmed that the reserve will be adding it to the reserve using a “basic neutral approach that doesn’t cost taxpayers a single dime.”

Trump’s executive order marks the United States as the world’s largest sovereign Bitcoin holder, but could be overturned by future administrations. Therefore, Ramis argues that not only executive action is essential to locking into a long-term national Bitcoin strategy. Lummis’ Bitcoin Act solidifies the program into law and ensures that the country accumulates much more.

Asset Manager Vanek estimates that if the US follows this roadmap, Bitcoin Reserve could offset up to $21 trillion in national debt by 2049.

Ramis closed with a warning about the fate of the dollar. “It didn’t go away. It just lost its strength,” she compared it to the British pound. “You’ll either buy the actual assets or get left behind.”

US President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs against every country with a trade relationship with the US.

Trump said the US would enact varying tariff percentages against each country based on the tariffs they impose on American goods.

The news led to a significant spike in volatility across major markets, including crypto, which saw the announcement wipe out the gains recorded from a significant rally earlier in the day.

Bitcoin (BTC) initially climbed to $88,500 as Trump took the stage but quickly crashed back to the daily opening price of around $85,100 before sliding again after the speech.

Based on CryptoSlate data, BTC remains in a downtrend and was trading at $84,382 as of press time, down 0.99% over the past 24 hours.

Legacy risk markets, including equities, saw similar volatility, while gold, considered a safe-haven asset, climbed back to its all-time high near $3,100.

The wider crypto market saw similar movements, with the vast majority of digital assets wiping the day’s gains to trade in the red.

Ethereum (ETH) was down 1.66% for the day and trading at $1,880 as of press time after climbing to $1,957 earlier in the day.

Solana (SOL) was down 1.59% for the day and trading at $128.3 as of press time, while BNB was down 2.16% and trading at $597 over the same period.

XRP was trading at $2.09, down 2.55%, while Dogecoin (DOGE) fell 2.45% to $0.1688.

Investors have been cautious about exposure to risk assets for several weeks due to the lack of clarity around Trump’s tariff plans.

While the initial reaction to the news has been negative for Bitcoin and equities, the resulting clarity around the tariffs could alleviate the market uncertainty that has held investors at bay.

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Bitcoin and the broader crypto market are under significant pressure as macroeconomic concerns fuel investor anxiety.

In the past 24 hours, the price of BTC has fallen 2.2%, briefly touching $76,624 before recovering to $81,376 as of press time.

Ethereum (ETH), the second largest crypto asset by market cap, also dropped 10% to $1,760, its lowest level since November 2023. At the time of writing, ETH has slightly recovered to above $1900.

Other major assets, including Solana (SOL), XRP, Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Binance Coin (BNB), recorded significant losses of more than 4% each during the reporting period.

Data from Coinglass showed that the sell-off triggered a surge in liquidations, with 321,000 traders losing a combined $906 million.

According to the data, traders with long positions betting on further price increases suffered the most, with $732.2 million wiped out, while short positions accounted for $173 million.

Why did the market crash?

Macroeconomic uncertainty appears to be the primary driver of the market downturn, which has had a far-reaching impact.

Bitcoin analyst Fred Krueger attributed the plunge to fears of an economic downturn, saying:

“The reason Bitcoin is going down is simple: fear of recession.”

Over the weekend, US President Donald Trump did not dismiss the possibility of a recession, sparking fresh concerns across financial markets.

Analysts at The Kobeissi Letter highlighted Trump’s statement’s ripple effect, noting that technology stocks have suffered steep losses. The Nasdaq 100 has fallen 12.4% in 13 trading sessions, approaching bear market territory at its fastest pace since the March 2020 crash.

The analysts continued that cryptocurrencies have not been spared. Since peaking on Dec. 17, the market has shed $1.3 trillion, with a 35% drop in the last three months signaling a deepening correction.

However, with no clear catalyst to drive a reversal, the market remains vulnerable to further declines.

Arthur Hayes, BitMEX co-founder, suggested that Bitcoin could find a bottom around $70,000, marking a 36% decline from its $110,000 peak. However, he noted that such corrections are common in bull markets.

Nevertheless, he pointed out that:

“Traders will try to buy the dip, if you are more risk averse wait for the central banks to ease then deploy more capital. You might not catch the bottom but you also won’t have to mentally suffer through a long period of sideways and potential unrealised losses.”

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