‘ETF Cryptober’ On Hold As US Government Shutdown Delays XRP, SOL, And ADA Funds
An anticipated breakout month for crypto ETFs has been put on hold by the US government shutdown, which has forced the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to suspend routine operations.
Among the casualties are approvals for crypto ETFs, leaving investors uncertain when funds tracking leading altcoins such as XRP, Solana (SOL), and Cardano (ADA) will reach the market.
”ETF Cryptober might be on hold for a bit,” said Nate Geraci, president of Novadius Wealth Management. ”Looks like a prolonged government shutdown would definitely impact the launch of new spot crypto ETFs.”
SEC Will Not Review Or Approve Applications
The SEC said in an Aug. 7 document outlining its plans for government shutdown that it will not review or approve applications related to new financial products.
It added that it will also not review or approve self-regulatory organization rule changes, nor will it review or speed up the effectiveness of registration statements.
That applies to crypto ETFs because the SEC is supposed to approve the S-1 registration statements of the proposed products before they can launch.
SEC Has Over 90 Crypto ETF Applications Waiting For Approval
There are currently over 90 crypto ETF applications sitting on the SEC’s desk awaiting approval. The final deadlines for the agency to deliver decisions on many of these proposed funds were set for this month.
The first of the deadlines was for Litecoin ETFs, which was meant to come up this week. Next week is the deadline for spot Solana ETFs, while the deadline for XRP ETFs was meant to follow shortly thereafter.
But the US government shutdown has now presented a major obstacle in the approval process that analysts believe will likely delay the decisions on a variety of the proposed funds that track different digital assets.
White House Doesn’t Expect The Shutdown To Last Long
There has been no clear indication of how long exactly the US government shutdown will last.
But during a recent White House press briefing, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the White House was actively working towards ending the shutdown soon.
Vice President JD Vance also said that he does not expect the shutdown to last long.
Traders on the predictions market platform Polymarket have placed bets that the shutdown will last anywhere from Oct. 6 to Oct. 15, possibly even later than that.
Contract asking how long the US government shutdown will last (Source: Polymarket)
In a contract asking how long the US government shutdown will last, Polymarket users placed 28% odds that it will end between Oct. 6 and Oct. 9. Meanwhile, 32% odds have been placed on the shutdown ending between Oct. 10 and Oct. 14.
The biggest odds of 35% were placed on bets that the shutdown will end either on Oct. 15 or later.
Speaking at the Token2049 event in Singapore, Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev said that while there “may be some delays,” there’s “optimism that we’ll get through it and there won’t be much business interruption.”
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