Some of Crypto’s momentum in Washington, DC has stagnated. This could get worse if the US government closes next week.

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It’s late but it won’t stop

story

The US government appears to be heading for shutdown. It does not directly affect cryptography, but the reverberation from government shutdowns affects policy decisions in the crypto world.

Why is it important?

There are currently three major questions regarding the Market Structure Act. Congress will pass the bill. Congress may pass the bill when. And how will government closures affect this process?

Beyond Congress alone, closures could affect regulatory rules-making efforts, but that may not be a big deal at this point (which depends, of course, on how long the shutdown lasts).

I’ll break it

Congress passes the budget bill, or at least the ongoing resolution to continue funding the government, until September 30, 2025, that is, on Tuesday. Republicans control the White House, House and Senate, but they still need Democrats to move the budget bill. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer and House Minority Leader Hicombe Jeffries appeared to be set to meet and negotiate with President Donald Trump, but Trump cancelled the meeting earlier this week. And on Friday, Punchbowl News reported that House leaders may not return their bodies to the session at all until the Senate passes the bill.

Shutdowns may slow down the progress of laws in crypto market structures. According to multiple people this year, the possibilities for the market structure that will emerge through Congress and President’s desks through this year’s presidential desks, even without the threat of looming shutdowns. The planned markup hearing for the Senate Banking Committee’s draft bill was a preliminary hearing from September 30th to late October, and the Senate Agriculture Committee has not yet released the bill. Bills addressing market structures will require support from both committees before moving to the Senate as a whole and the House of Representatives.

Individuals said they expect to see progress next year if Congress cannot move the Market Structure Bill through the Senate and House of Representatives by December 31.

However, these opportunities will be slimmer in the face of a shutdown. Shutting down the federal government is often improved with quick, short-term spending transactions that push away dramas only a few weeks or months and promise future Congressional alliances.

If the government closes, Senate committees may have to push back their markup plans, said Jessica Martinez, senior director of government relations at the Blockchain Association.

“There have been honest negotiations between the two sides, but the shutdown will halt important advances in crypto policy,” she said in a statement. “Despite the possibility of delays, Congressional leaders are committed to gaining bipartisan market structure laws across the finish line.”

Christine Smith, chairman of the Solana Policy Institute, said she is optimistic that the law will continue to attract bipartisan attention, and says the shutdown is “set-false,” but that’s clear [lawmakers] We will continue to commit to passing the Market Structure Bill.

Speaking at a policy and regulatory event in Koindsk earlier this month, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (DN.Y.) tried to curb expectations that Congress had to act by the end of September.

“I don’t want to have artificial deadlines for anything because we’re in the midst of negotiations on whether we have a bipartisan budget,” she said. “The most important issue that Congress has to deal with now is the fiscal cliff on September 30. That’s a much more important deadline that the whole country is relying on… I really urge you, because it’s so important that we are so important for this industry and we make this right and we do it based on Vipartisan.”

The bright spot of the crypto industry may come from regulators. Federal regulators (entities of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and Treasury) all have to stop being uncritical, but many of the ongoing rulemaking efforts are already in motion. Some of these efforts are in the public comment phase.

Didier Lavallee, CEO of Canadian company Tetra Digital, said in a statement that the closure could affect SEC chair Paul Atkins’ agenda “in the medium term,” but momentum on crypto policymaking still enjoys bipartisan support.

“There may therefore be short-term delays in the policy timeline, but it is unlikely to be a fundamental derailment in the long run,” he said.

this week

Monday

• 17:00 UTC (1:00 PM ET) The SEC and CFTC held a joint roundtable meeting on September 29, 2025 to discuss how to integrate regulatory efforts.

Tuesday

• Post-trial moves in the Department of Justice’s case against the Rome Storm may be due. As a reminder, Storm was convicted last month of conspiring to run an unlicensed money sender, but the ju judge did not convict him of two other charges.

If you have any questions or thoughts about other feedback I want to share next week, please email me to nik @coindesk.com or find me at bluesky @nikhileshde.bsky.social.

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Check out ya’ll next week!