The US government closed last Wednesday, contributing to any federal employee deemed not essential and forcing others to work without salary (although they should receive a sacrette when the government is officially funded again). If the government reopens in the coming weeks, it should not have too much effect on the development of DC cryptography policies. The more the judgment stretches, however, the delayed the cryptography efforts.
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The story
The government closed on Wednesday, and at least to the press, the Democrats and the Republicans do not seem to be close to an agreement to reopen it.
Why it matters
As discussed in the newsletter last week, the immediate effects of the closure are quite simple: the legislation on the market structure will probably be delayed, the regulation of federal agencies will probably be delayed and the new funds negotiated in exchange for crypto-sports have not hoped in the coming days.
If the closure is only a few days – or potentially as long as two weeks – these efforts should resume fairly transparent. If the stop goes beyond, the image becomes much more muddy.
Decompose it
The longest closure of the American government in history took place between December 2018 and January 2019, during the first term of President Donald Trump. At the time, the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives while the Republicans controlled the Senate. The latter closure has only a few days from press time and could last a few days or can extend further.
Perhaps the most immediate and tangible effect of the government’s closure on crypto issues concerns negotiated stock market funds. The Securities and Exchange Commission should allow ETFs to follow the prices of assets like Solana And To launch last week. Although there were movements last week and on Monday, the chronometer exhausted before all the final documents could be pushed and the issuers have not yet been able to start.
The dry was also able to finalize a pair of letters without action before the stop. Other agencies, such as IRS, were also able to publish provisional advice before the stop.
Ron Hammond, responsible for politicians and advocacy in Wintermute, told Coindesk that: “He cannot be underestimated to what extent cryptographic political developments have been occupied.”
With the closure, decision-makers are in limbo around these types of regulatory actions, he said.
On the legislative level, a person familiar with the dynamics in Washington, DC said that they do not expect the calendar of the legislation on the market structure to change a lot if the closure ended in the next two weeks. While legislators seek to hold a possible increase – an audience where legislators debate bills before voting potentially to pass them to the complete Senate (or to the House) – by October 20, 2025, this seems unlikely, regardless of the end of the closure, since they are still working on the text of the bill.
Another person familiar with these dynamics said that an additional complication factor for legislators and their staff members is the fact that the regulatory bodies they could consult are currently on leave, so that the legislators drafting the bill on the market structure could not receive comments or answers to all the questions they may have for these federal regulations.
Hammond said that December “is always achievable” for having moved the legislation by the congress for the moment.
“The more this closure lights up, the more the partisan bitterness infiltrates the bipartisan discourse necessary on important subjects such as the structure of the cryptographic market,” said Hammond. “However, this closure drama does not affect our calculation on the chances of the legislation on the structure of the market the chances of passing more likely than otherwise before the elections in 2026 increase.”
Hammond said he was looking at to see if an increase in the Senate and agriculture committees by Thanksgiving.
This week
- There is no audience or events that are held by legislators this week around crypto.
If you have reflections or questions about what I should discuss next week or any other comment you want to share, do not hesitate to send me an e-mail at nik@PK Press Club.com or to find me on Bluesky @ nikhileshde.bsky.social.
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See you next week!
