Conversely, failure to pass the legislation could trigger a sharper decline, with Rafique seeing bitcoin potentially falling toward the $55,000 level before attracting significant retail buying interest.
“The market prices news ahead of time,” he said. “Most of the appreciation from Clarity is already reflected in current prices.”
Intercontinental Exchange partnership expands
Separately, Rafique outlined ambitious plans for OKX's joint venture with Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), describing it as a key step in the exchange's long-term U.S. strategy.
The partnership is initially focused on distributing ICE market data and products to OKX's global user base of roughly 150 million customers. Rafique said the companies are working with ICE's futures teams to introduce additional products, including perpetual futures and other derivatives linked to traditional assets in markets such as Europe and the United Arab Emirates.
Longer term, the venture aims to bring issuer-backed tokenized equities, spot products and futures contracts onchain.
Rafique said issuer-backed tokenized stocks offer a more sustainable market structure than synthetic or wrapped equity models because investors retain the same governance and shareholder rights as holders of the underlying shares.
He added that the joint venture could eventually expand into event contracts and prediction markets as the regulatory framework evolves.
Read more: Bernstein sees another leg lower for crypto markets if Clarity Act stalls