US Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and John Fetterman have introduced the Clean Cloud Act of 2025. The bill aims to reduce carbon emissions from energy-intensive crypto-mining operations and artificial intelligence data centers.
This comes at a time when Bitcoin miners are increasingly moving towards renewable energy sources to power their operations.
Clean Cloud Act Links Rising Energy Demand to Bitcoin Mining
According to the bill, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would have the authority to set annual carbon performance standards for facilities with over 100 kilowatts of installed IT power.
These standards would tighten each year, with emissions limits declining by 11% annually.
Companies that exceed the cap will pay a starting fee of $20 per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent. This fee will rise yearly, adjusting for inflation and an additional $10 per ton. The bill also enforces strict accounting methods to include indirect emissions from the grid.
The lawmakers argue that crypto miners and AI centers are driving up power demand at an unsustainable pace. According to them, the current clean energy sources cannot keep up with the rapid growth of the demand for Bitcoin mining.
They noted that data centers alone use 4% of all electricity in the US and could hit 12% by 2028. They also pointed out that utilities have even restarted old coal plants to meet rising demand, worsening the country’s carbon footprint.
Considering this, Senator Whitehouse noted that this pressure is driving up electricity costs for consumers. He said the bill would push tech firms toward clean energy investments and help ensure the US power grid can reach net-zero emissions within the next decade.
“The good news is that we don’t have to choose between leading the world on AI and leading the world on climate safety: big technology and AI companies have all the money in the world to pay for developing new sources of clean energy, rather than overloading local grids and firing up fossil fuel pollution. The Clean Cloud Act will drive utilities and the burgeoning crypto and AI industries to invest in new sources of clean energy,” the lawmaker stated.
To protect low-income households, 25% of the revenue generated from emissions penalties will offset energy costs. The rest will fund grants supporting long-duration storage and clean power generation projects.
Following this rapid adoption rate, the report forecast that renewables could support over 70% of mining activities by 2030, driven by cost efficiency, evolving policies, and a broader shift toward sustainable practices
Tether minted $1 billion in USDT on the Tron network today, bringing its total minted tokens since January to 12 billion. This reflects growing demand for crypto and could signal bullishness.
Previously, major stablecoin issuances have led to a bullish cycle. With fresh inflows, the market sentiment is trending towards Greed, and Tether may facilitate more bullishness.
This new USDT minting could have broad market implications for a few reasons. Major net issuances often reflect growing demand from institutions and OTC desks that need large blocks of stablecoins for cross-border settlements or build-up before buying digital assets.
In isolation, this single issuance could push the needle in a bullish direction. However, since Lookonchain data shows a pattern of major mintings, Tether could spur a lot of optimism.
Despite recently hitting a three-year low, the Crypto Fear and Greed Index has been trending upward. It’s currently in Neutral but briefly exhibited Greed yesterday.
In other words, the market is primed to accept a bullish signal, and Tether’s major minting may provide it.
Still, not every mint equates to immediate market deployment. True bullish pressure arrives only when those new USDT hit exchange wallets. Luckily, that seems like a very achievable goal.
Welcome to the US Morning Crypto News Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to see what analysts say about Bitcoin amid the showdown between BTC behemoth Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and Jack Mallers’ investment firm, 21 Capital. With their Bitcoin models coming into question, is there a specific definition of what winning means in Bitcoin?
Strategy Grows Bitcoin Stockpile, Buys $1.42 Billion in BTC
Strategy announced that it recently purchased another 15,355 BTC worth approximately $1.42 billion at an average price of $92,737 last week.
The firm currently holds 553,555 BTC, valued at approximately $52.7 billion. The average buying price is $68,459, and the unrealized profit is $14.8 billion.
“By continuing to grow its Bitcoin holdings, the company maintains its status as a major force in the cryptocurrency market, drawing interest from investors and industry analysts. Strategy is the largest Bitcoin Treasury Company, an independent, publicly traded business intelligence company, and a Nasdaq 100 stock,” Phoenix reported.
A recent US Crypto News publication highlighted the advent of 21 Capital. The Bitcoin investment firm sprouted after Cantor Fitzgerald, SoftBank, Tether, and Bitfinex pooled $3 billion in capital.
Based on sentiment, this new venture could inadvertently challenge Strategy’s position at the helm of corporate Bitcoin ownership in a model sense. According to 21 Capital, Strategy size could make increasing its Bitcoin per share difficult, a metric investors tend to consider.
Amid chatter that 21 Capital could threaten the Michael Saylor-led firm, BitStrategy, a shareholder at Strategy, challenged the prospective market rival’s business model.
Tension Grows in Bitcoin Treasury Space
In a detailed post on X (Twitter), BitStrategy acknowledged the brewing tension in the Bitcoin treasury arena. However, it holds that Strategy is way ahead of the competition.
“Their company is in direct competition with ours, and they seek to exploit a perceived vulnerability in our structure, openly highlighting their strengths relative to ours to win investment,” BitStrategy challenged in a recent post.
Beyond BTC Yield, also reported in a recent US Crypto News publication, the firm initiated key performance indicators months ago- BTC Gain and BTC $ Gain.
Bitcoin Gain multiplies the BTC Yield by Strategy’s aggregate balance, reflecting the scale of the firm’s operations.
Bitcoin $ Gain takes this further, converting the BTC Gain into dollar terms, for added transparency.
This proactivity by Strategy suggests a commitment to defend its position as a leading Bitcoin-holding corporation amidst rising rivals.
“You can fake an impressive BTC Yield. You cannot fake an impressive BTC Gain,” BitStrategy chimed.
However, analyst KenjiKoshu argues that while Strategy may show substantial Bitcoin gains, smaller companies like 21 Capital could achieve higher Bitcoin per share.
“As someone who has done deep thinking about why MSTR is undervalued, it might be true BTC gain can still be substantial if not higher for MSTR. On a per-share basis, however, which would be what supports the stock; it will be hard to deny a smaller, similarly reputable company is going to make more Bitcoin per share when on the same strategy,” the analyst wrote.
This outlook aligns with sentiment from 21 Capital that Strategy’s large size impedes increasing its Bitcoin per share.
However, BitStrategy articulated that the point of BTC Gain and BTC $ Gain signals the importance of a whole-of-company view of performance relative to a per-share view.
Per the shareholder, there is no agreed-upon conventional valuation methodology for Bitcoin companies. This means any metric is somewhat arbitrary.
Investors increasingly turn to digital assets as a safe haven, with Bitcoin becoming a hedge against the US dollar’s volatility as crypto inflows surge to $3.4 billion.
Welcome to the US Morning Crypto News Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.
Grab a coffee to see expert opinions on what the future holds for Bitcoin (BTC) amid renewed institutional interest. Meanwhile, its market peer, gold, is no longer the only go-to investment in times of uncertainty.
Bitcoin to $120,000: Standard Chartered Predicts Next BTC Rally
As indicated in a recent US Crypto News publication, Bitcoin price remains on course to the target objective of the falling wedge pattern.
After overcoming the resistance at $94,000, BTC is confronting immediate resistance at $95,765. A decisive candlestick close above this roadblock could clear the path for further upside, with Bitcoin price potentially completing the forecasted 20% climb to $102,239.
This optimism comes asBitcoin emerges as a potential beneficiary amid global trade tensions. US tariffs are sparking capital flight and market volatility.
BeInCrypto contacted Standard Chartered for insight into the current Bitcoin market outlook. Interestingly, the bank forecasted a breakout Bitcoin rally mirroring its post-US election surge, with a Q2 price target of $120,000 now in sight.
According to Standard Chartered Head of Digital Asset Research Geoff Kendrick, Bitcoin’s price is primed for a rally similar to its dramatic rise following the US presidential election in November 2024.
The pioneer crypto hit a record high of $103,713 the following month.
Kendrick pointed to accelerating US spot Bitcoin ETF (exchange-traded funds) inflows, particularly when contrasted with declining gold ETP (exchange-traded product) inflows.
“The last time the gap between Bitcoin and gold ETF flows was this wide was during the week of the US election,” Kendrick told BeInCrypto.
According to Kendrick, Bitcoin is catching up to gold, with the king of crypto already serving as a better hedge amid strategic asset reallocations away from the US.
US ETF inflows/outflows vs Gold ETFs. Source: Standard Chartered
This chart compares investment flows into two financial instruments, Bitcoin ETFs and Gold ETPs. It shows higher investor interest and volatility in the former compared to the latter.
Tether’s Q1 2025 report reveals its tokenized gold product, XAUT, is backed by over 7.7 tons of physical gold.With rising global economic uncertainty, XAUT’s market cap surged to $853.7 million, making it the largest tokenized gold product.
BNB Chain optimizes for speed, cutting block times to 1.5 seconds for BSC and 0.5 seconds for OpBNB. Meanwhile, Ethereum’s Fusaka faces a developer rift.
