US Government Shutdown Officially Starts After Political Stalemate — What Does It Mean For Crypto?

The US government shutdown for the first time in six years at midnight on Wednesday, after Congress failed to pass a funding ￰2￱ stalemate leaves agencies without money as the new fiscal year begins and threatens wide disruption, from air travel to public ￰3￱ 800,000 workers, nearly 40% of the federal workforce, are expected to go without pay. A Shutdown That Feels Different The closure began at midnight on Oct. 1 after lawmakers failed to agree on a short-term measure to extend funding into fiscal ￰4￱ is the first shutdown since 2018, although this one comes with greater strain, as political talk of deeper cuts and even permanent layoffs looms over agencies already struggling with limited ￰5￱ News: The ￰6￱ has shut down, after Congress failed to pass a bill to keep federal funding ￰7￱ of thousands of workers are set to be sent home without pay, and a wide range of federal programs will be disrupted. ￰0￱ ￰8￱ — The New York Times (@nytimes) October 1, 2025 The Senate will revisit a Republican-backed funding plan, but progress looks unlikely without concessions from both ￰9￱ then, essential services continue on thin staffing while millions of Americans brace for ￰10￱ Crypto Cares About Washington Gridlock Crypto is not directly tied to federal budgets, but it is not immune to the ripple ￰11￱ slow data releases, delay regulatory reviews and create a layer of uncertainty that unsettles ￰12￱ warn Bitcoin and Ethereum could be especially sensitive to swings, while smaller tokens may see sharper drops if volatility spikes.

“Government shutdowns are not without precedence; should history be our guide, suggest little if any effects on markets,” said Johnny Garcia, managing director of institutional growth at ￰13￱ added that while the political noise feels louder, a solution is usually ￰14￱ ETFs Could Face Delays Due to Shutdown One flashpoint is the timeline for spot crypto ￰15￱ September, optimism grew that issuers including VanEck, 21Shares and Grayscale could secure approval for spot Solana ETFs in early ￰16￱ confidence followed SEC rule changes on Sept. 17 that streamlined the process and cut review times . Bloomberg’s Eric Balchunas Seyffart put approval odds at 100% for this ￰17￱ Nate Geraci, president of The ETF Store and host of ETF Prime, cautioned that the shutdown could throw off the ￰18￱ the odds are really 100% ￰19￱ listing standards make the 19b-4s and their “clock” ￰20￱ just leaves the S-1s waiting for formal green light from Corp ￰21￱ they just submitted amendment #4 for ￰22￱ baby could come any ￰23￱ ready. ￰1￱ — Eric Balchunas (@EricBalchunas) September 29, 2025 Looking Back To Look Ahead The average shutdown runs about eight ￰24￱ past episodes, markets recovered quickly once federal functions ￰25￱ if this one drags on for weeks, it could stall momentum by pushing back decisions at the Federal Reserve or slowing approvals for new investment ￰26￱ Left Running On Skeleton Crew Existing spot Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs, approved in 2024 and 2025, continue trading without disruption.

However, the SEC’s Division of Trading and Markets would now be operating with less than 10% of its usual ￰27￱ a result, crypto ETFs are not treated as ￰28￱ means S-1 filings and final approvals will remain on hold until funding ￰29￱ Investors Should Expect Next The shutdown does not mean crypto ETF applications are cancelled, only ￰30￱ lawmakers strike a deal soon, approvals could arrive this quarter. However, if the stalemate drags on, the momentum built in September may ￰31￱ a result, market sentiment could weaken heading into year-end.