Overview
- The SEC remains on contingency staffing during the U.S. government shutdown, pausing roughly a hundred crypto ETF decisions and delaying key federal data releases.
- High-profile applications, including Grayscale’s proposed Cardano ETF and multiple spot XRP funds, are stalled with no timeline for action.
- Crypto trading infrastructure continues uninterrupted, and exchanges are prioritizing steady operations with an eye to potential retrospective scrutiny.
- Bitcoin briefly traded above $120,000 in the first two weeks of October with $60–70 billion in daily volume as traders leaned on price action over macro signals.
- Prediction markets assign low odds of a near-term reopening, and some industry commentators expect a concentrated wave of ETF decisions once normal SEC operations resume.