US Government Shutdown Hits Fourth Week as Senate Democrats Call Urgent Crypto Talks
Senate pushes 11th vote while democrats plan crypto roundtable
The US government is on the verge of entering its fourth week of shutdown, with the Senate preparing for yet another vote to break the deadlock. Lawmakers are set to vote at 5:30 p.m. ET on Monday in what will be the 11th attempt to reopen federal operations. A successful vote would restore government funding, but another failure could extend one of the longest shutdowns in American history.
Amid the budget stalemate, congressional focus is shifting toward crypto regulation. Senate Democrats, led by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, are set to host a private roundtable on Wednesday with major crypto executives from Coinbase, Kraken, Circle, and Ripple. The discussion will center on the long-delayed US crypto market structure bill, designed to create a federal framework for digital assets.
This comes after several Democratic lawmakers proposed an alternative bill that critics argue would “kill DeFi” and erode bipartisan progress made in the House’s CLARITY Act passed in July. The Senate version aims to balance innovation with stronger oversight, but deep divisions remain over how to regulate decentralized finance.
Meanwhile, the ongoing government shutdown has frozen momentum for crypto exchange-traded funds (ETFs). With the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) operating on minimal staff, key ETF approvals have been delayed. Canary Capital’s proposed Litecoin and HBAR ETFs, along with more than 16 pending filings from firms including Grayscale, Bitwise, and Fidelity, now face indefinite hold-ups.
The shutdown, now stretching beyond three weeks, ranks among the longest in US history—leaving Washington in turmoil and America’s crypto future hanging in the balance.
