Bitcoin Forum

The U.S. government shutdown has put a freeze on many agencies, including the SEC, which means ETF approvals and other regulatory moves could be delayed again. Some investors see this as a setback for adoption.

Bitcoin has been around and thriving long before ETFs or U.S. regulations were ever discussed. It doesn’t rely on government approval, and as a decentralized asset, it continues to operate regardless of what’s happening in Washington.

Yes, ETFs and institutional products might speed up adoption, but they’re not what keeps Bitcoin alive. Shutdowns, politics, and delays only remind us why Bitcoin was created in the first place: to exist outside of government failures.

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https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/government-shutdown-trump-09-30-25

You asked a question in the title, and then answered it yourself in your post. :)

The involvement of countries and their governments, approving or rejecting ETFs and other investment options for institutional and retail investors, was merely a boosting factor for Bitcoin's growth, they were never actually needed for Bitcoin to grow in the long run, but as you said, if they don't exist, adoption might take longer, but now that we know that Bitcoin is widespreadly known all around the globe, nothing is going to stop it. Even if governments stop approving ETFs, crack down on exchanges, or do whatever they want, people will still use them, and other countries will always allow their use.

So basically, it's not going to hurt Bitcoin or the industry as a whole, but it's only going to slow down the progress a little bit, and I think that shouldn't be a problem in the long run. Besides, it's not like things are going to stay this way forever, things will change again, might turn positive or even more negative, but Bitcoin will still continue to thrive. :)

That’s just my opinion, but I’d like to know what others think too.

Who knows - maybe there are posters here who believe this could actually hurt Bitcoin. I’d like to hear their side as well.  :)

Depends on already existing sentiment, last time had a dip and is considered the longest shutdown
But that was because the market was already bearish.
This time market sentiment is bullish and the news may amplify it.

Reminds me of the message on Genesis block by Satoshi.
"The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".
And guess what can't be shutdown like this? Yeah Bitcoin.

The news isn’t really hot or new because this isn’t the first time the US government has shut down, and if I remember correctly, throughout history they’ve had 21 shutdowns. The longest government shutdown lasted more than 35 days in 2018 during Trump's first term, while others have lasted just a few hours or days.

So the US government shutdown will not affect the future of bitcoin and the market will not care much about it either. The market is more concerned with the movements of the global economy than with political events involving governments.

If you check the markets today, you will also see that the markets are not very concerned about the US government shutdown.

Investors already have plenty of Bitcoin ETFs to choose from, not sure how that would slow adoption down on that front. A delay in regulatory moves is mostly a positive, given that these have usually been shown to be a detriment to Bitcoin.

This is the reason some people said they do not want ETFs and they also against anything that they see that is centralized, because these things might have effect on the price of bitcoin due to regulations. With what I have seen so far, ETFs have good impact on bitcoin and I do not think government shutdown can change that.

The institutional investors will feel the impact, but not Bitcoin as a whole. I still believe there are a lot of whales who prefer to just hold their Bitcoin instead of trusting a regulated third party. Now that they shut down, we can see what happens, delays, and who knows what other problems it could bring.

Overall, I think this is actually good news. Why? Because it proves how centralization can be a problem in the future. And this came from a big country like the US, imagine how much more in other countries. Bitcoin is decentralized, very stable, and safe. Thanks to this news, more people will realize that.

This isn't anymore speculation. The government has been into partial shutdown for more than 5 hours as of writing, but Bitcoin has shot up for the past several hours. Within 24 hours alone, the price has bottomed at the $12,000 to $13,000 range but has now breached $16,000.

Therefore, I conclude that the government shutdown doesn't hurt Bitcoin. On the contrary, although the shut down might not be the cause, the price has moved in the opposite direction. So, at the very least, the government shutdown didn't bring the price down. There's probably nothing to worry about as far as the Bitcoin market is concerned.

Bitcoin will not be affected by the shutdown, if anything it would use this as an avenue to rise past the gloomy numbers we've been seeing it for a week now and also if care's not taken, this shutdown might last a while because the both sides; The Republican and Democrats are busy pointing hands at each other, no one willing to accept blame as to who is responsible for this pause in governmental activities.
 

It seems that Bitcoin is talking should when the US political situation is uncertain but Bitcoin today is precisely when I type $ 117K and this is a significant increase after we sidways under $ 115K, this shows that Bitcoin is not dependent on any party even the US government that is in the Crypto adoption phase.

I am not sure if this pump is sustainable or if it is just a manipulation. We knew that in the history whenever there is a US government shutdown, the stock market dips and so there were many short positions opened in anticipation of this shutdown. So I think the exchanges and whales manipulated the market, played in the opposite direction and liquidated many shorters in this price movement.

I think we may see price again dumping to 112-114K levels, but in the mid term, we are bullish Q4 in a bull market year in the most bullish season in the entire four-year bitcoin cycle.

https://www.talkimg.com/images/2025/10/01/UQxRlj.jpeg

The point is that their stocks are focused on the US economy, where we see the S&P falling today because their companies are affected by political decisions in the US. this is quite correlated when it comes to the stock market, but Bitcoin is a different story. It is not centered in the US, so it is not affected. Looking at other factors, if the US does not have certainty, investors will choose other places to invest, and Bitcoin becomes the most likely alternative choice to make a profit, especially since we are at the end of Bitcoin's 4-year cycle.

Before now bitcoin has been making headway, government and institutions are able to crave for bitcoin because of it's potentials and ability in the cryptocurrency market and bitcoin growth does not depend on the government rules and regulations.

Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin as a decentralized cryptocurrency and made bitcoin to be scarce over time, government is not the people behind the growth of bitcoin and that was why even when government and institutions have not taken cognisance of bitcoin, the cryptocurrency was doing very well.

There are forces behind the growth of bitcoin which no body can be able to stop.
When bitcoin was created initially, only few persons new bitcoin and upon that bitcoin was able to reward those few people very well.
It is bitcoin performance that made it to be recognized by government, institutions and individuals because they have been able to find the value and benefits behind investing in bitcoin.

The SEC work may be paused due to this  shutdown, &  as a result  the ETF decision may be delayed. you know, one of the reasons for the slow approval &  sluggish review is that the SEC has a skeleton crew. This is actually a very annoying situation for the ETF campaign. However, there is nothing to panic about, the Bitcoin network doesn’t depend on the government to keep running. Whether they stop or continue, the Bitcoin network always keeps running, maybe we could see pump sometimes and dip other times. yeah agree with you ETFs accelerate mainstream adoption &  they have already attracted institutional money, so yeah  they are gravy, not lifeblood. BTC has been around long before Wall Street stampedes.

So, there may be shortterm noise & delays but that doesnt mean that Bitcoin will shut down.

Judging by current market conditions, Bitcoin appears quite bullish and strong, so the US government shutdown doesn't appear to have significantly impacted investor sentiment toward Bitcoin. It's likely that the shutdown, which has caused uncertainty in traditional markets, has actually motivated many people to shift funds into Bitcoin, driving its current price surge... coupled with other positive news and ETF support, has made Bitcoin even stronger and more resilient.

Bitcoin touched $118k today, showing strong bullish potentials irrespective of the US freeze. Seems it has little or no effect on Bitcoin since it's waxing stronger. Bitcoin exists and is sustained independent of their actions. That's the beauty of decentralization. Initially, even in our local group, everyone was thinking the price would go dipping badly again but it turns out the reverse was the case. It tells me that investors confidence remained unshaken.

Going forward, if Bitcoin can touch $120,000 and above, then it would be crystal clear Bitcoin is on its way to breaking a new ATH despite what was supposed to trigger a negative perception

When there is shutdown in this manner, the government pushes the people into reason more for an alternative they could have in place of a centralized economy they have been used to, but this remained unknown to government that this action they are taking is to help increase for more consideration for the use of a decentralized economy with bitcoin, so we should henceforth expect for more surge in the adoption rate of bitcoin.

US government shutdown is no way affecting the market because it it will, we would have seen the effect in the market so far. Despite the shutdown, bitcoin is showing a very strong bullish momentum that it has even reached $118K today. The shutdown didn’t have effect on it negatively but maybe the shutdown even propagated the move that we saw it up-trending. Since this is not the first time a shutdown is happening, the market may have gotten used to it and won’t affect the normal trend of the market. Uptober is now here and just on the first day, we’ve seen the massive rise in Bitcoin price.

This is true. Bitcoin ETFs are already approved, so this shutdown will not affect it. In this case, new ETF applications won't be proceeded, so it doesn't matter for Bitcoin because futures and spot ETFs, both are approved. This news is potentially a bullish factor for Bitcoin because lots of crypto investors buy Bitcoin because of it's the best deflationary asset, the complete opposite of USD. In other words, Bitcoin is a hedge against fiscal instability.

For now, especially when bitcoin is still in a bullish condition, I actually feel that the market has begun to ignore the policies implemented by the US, unlike before, and I feel quite good about this so that this condition does not drag on too long and we do not assume that Trump is the market determinant, as discussed by many beginners and those who are hyped up.

US policies often change, and we know that. So, looking at what they're doing now, it probably won't have a huge impact on Bitcoin, but it might slow down adoption a bit. However, regardless of that, I don't think we should be too concerned about what they are doing because, personally, I will only focus on my own actions, even though it cannot be denied that the US actions sometimes cause the market to fluctuate a little, although not as severely as before.

Shutdowns in the US aren’t anything new - they happen fairly often and usually don’t last long. But with Trump, things might be different. He set a record for shutdowns in his last term, so he could drag it out for weeks or even months. While even a shutdown over a month isn't a major event, it would still hurt the economy, maybe lowering GDP growth slightly.

Meanwhile, the S&P keeps hitting new highs, and Bitcoin is still rising. So, despite what the media says, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

The decentralized nature of Bitcoin will be evident and glaring despite the shutdown even though i believe it won't last for long.

However, one thing is for sure about the outcome of this shutdown and that is, it will most likely cause a short term volatility following FOMO from newbie investors, but am sure that despite the mixed market reaction, there would be a long term strengthening of the price to either maintain or increase the value of one's Bitcoin asset during these periods following market instability due to volatilities.

I pictured it that way too when I realised that it's first time in this year where bitcoin price is absolutely ignoring the politics of the US government and doing the opposite as opposed to what many mixed reactions has recently averred Donald Trump as market determinants - most of what has raised those thoughts were just short term triggers on bitcoin market, the main determinants of the bitcoin market are those factors that triggers long term effect.  In one way and another we can't deny that ETF approvals and government regulatory policies have suddenly become a necessary evil in speeding bitcoin adoption but they ain't a lifeline.

So I guess that question has been answered already by latest movement happened on Bitcoin. The market movement became more great after those situation occur.

If we look at  CMC https://coinmarketcap.com/ Bitcoin is recovering at seems like it will cross again at $120k.

People seems tired on political stints happening and maybe lots of investors realize that whatever happened to powerful countries it doesn't have anything to do with Bitcoin that's why the price now keeps pumping.

Even if it happens - it doesn't affect the price or the sentiment for long, and it's a good thing.

The market and the fundamentals do know better where to go  ;)

Government shutdown causes delays like slowing down SEC approval of Bitcoin ETFs which disappoints investors who wish to see Bitcoin adopted more quickly. Yet this delay also clearly demonstrates fundamental value of Bitcoin. When political issues can stop entire U.S. financial system Bitcoin decentralized network keeps operating smoothly without any pause. Although ETFs and similar products could help Bitcoin be adopted faster but they are not vital for its survival. Simply put every time government fails or shuts down it serves as powerful reminder that Bitcoin was designed to exist and succeed free from risks of unstable central control.

Bitcoin is decentralised in nature which means it is not being controlled by any government agency like fiat. Therefore I don't see the possibilities of this shutdown affecting bitcoin. Even without ETF I still believe bitcoin will still thrive in its adoption, although this body may be of help in fasting the adoption of bitcoin but that doesn't mean bitcoin is being control by this regulatory body or is subject to government control like fiat, because if this is so it means bitcoin is not decentralised in nature.

This is a good reminder for everyone, as it shows the importance and independence of bitcoin. It is decentralized and anonymous, no one is controlling it and it needs nobody, that's the beauty of it.

Anyways, I have been seeing this shutting down news for few days, but did not got much information in any posts what this is about like what caused this. I know the reason now.

Besides, I don't care haha, so if anyone shares that's fine otherwise still fine. If it will hurt bitcoin or not, you answered that part already, and I agreed, but from my side, I will say the same, it could not impact bitcoin. The current price is the proof.