Ether Falls to $4K, BTC, XRP Slide as U.S. Government Shutdown Risks Mount

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Markets

What to know:

  • Ether led major cryptocurrencies lower as the probability of a U.S. government shutdown increased. 🚨
  • Polymarket traders priced a 77% chance of a shutdown by the end of the year. 🏛️
  • The White House is preparing for potential job cuts, as Congress must pass a funding measure to prevent the government from running out of money by the end of September. 💼

Ah, the joy of watching Ether dive faster than your hopes of getting through the week without a crisis. During Thursday’s Asian trading hours, Ether led the crypto herd straight down into the abyss, thanks to the rising probability of a U.S. government shutdown. Thanks, Polymarket! 🙄

The “Yes” shares for the betting contract “U.S. government shutdown in 2025?” jumped to 77%, the highest it’s been since January. Talk about *betting* on the chaos! Now, traders are basically putting all their chips on the U.S. Office of Personnel Management saying, “Hey, we might just run out of money by Dec. 31.” Meanwhile, there’s a 63% chance it all collapses by Oct. 1. Tick-tock! ⏳

The White House is preparing for the inevitable-job cuts. Well, it’s not a party if someone isn’t losing their job, right? On Wednesday, the Office of Management and Budget sent out a memo telling agencies to start planning for staff reductions and furloughs if Congress doesn’t pull a rabbit out of its hat by next week. 🐇

At this point, the government is expected to run out of money by September’s end. To stop this disaster, Congress either needs to approve a short-term funding measure (aka “continuing resolution”) or pass 12 full-year funding bills. But, surprise surprise, the full-year bills won’t be finished on time, so yeah, let’s go for the stopgap! 🤷‍♀️

Oh, and let’s not forget-both parties need to agree on something to pass the bills. I know, shocking! 😅

BTC, ETH under pressure (understatement of the century)

Ether was down over 3% in Asia-because why not? It almost dipped below $4,000 for the first time since August 8. Meanwhile, Bitcoin was down over 1%, struggling to stay above $112,000. Some major altcoins followed suit, falling 2.6% to 3%. Solana’s SOL looked like it was about to break below $200-because we all love a good *moment of despair*. 😬

The CoinDesk 20 Index? Oh, just down 2% at 3,940 points. Don’t worry though, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures were… flat-to-positive. Phew. 🙄

So, what’s the deal with all this market carnage? No one really knows. But it might be because investors are jittery about the whole government shutdown drama. Not exactly a “buy the dip” moment, right? 🤑

And to add some extra fun, San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly just had to reiterate her support for rate cuts. But don’t expect any answers on when those will happen. Talk about keeping things vague! 🥴 Meanwhile, the Fed already cut rates by 25 basis points on Sept. 17, hinting at two more cuts before the year’s out. But no one’s sure about anything anymore. Classic. 🙃

Seven Fed officials, including the New York Fed’s Williams, are scheduled to speak on Thursday. So, yeah, just wait for that excitement to hit. Oh, and traders are just *dying* for Friday’s PCE data-the Fed’s favorite inflation measure. Because what better way to start the weekend than with more economic uncertainty? 🎉

“If inflation pressures are contained, markets might see room for more Fed cuts, giving BTC a chance for a ‘long-anticipated’ breakout.” Or not. Who even knows anymore? 🙄

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2025-09-25 09:01