Bitcoin Flat as Congress Races to Avert Government Shutdown

Despite the looming threat of a U.S. government shutdown, major cryptocurrencies maintained surprising stability in early Tuesday trading. Bitcoin showed virtually no movement over the previous 24 hours, trading at $113,435 with only a slight 0.4% uptick in the most recent hour. Ethereum demonstrated similar resilience, declining just 0.3% on the day to trade at $4,153, according to data from crypto price aggregator CoinGecko. This market calm contrasted sharply with the political drama unfolding in Washington, where Congress faced a critical funding deadline.

The stability in BTC and ETH prices occurred despite the potential for delayed U.S. macroeconomic data releases that typically influence cryptocurrency markets. The political uncertainty created by the funding standoff had failed to trigger significant volatility in the digital asset markets, suggesting either market maturity or trader wait-and-see approaches. The relative flatness in both major cryptocurrencies indicated that institutional and retail investors were closely monitoring Congressional developments rather than making panic-driven moves.

Beneath the surface stability, prediction markets told a different story about trader sentiment. Users on Myriad, a prediction market owned by Decrypt’s parent company DASTAN, showed dramatically increasing bearishness toward Bitcoin’s near-term prospects. Some 85% of users predicted that BTC would record at least 48 red candles—indicating price declines—before Wednesday at noon. This marked a significant shift from Monday, when the prediction had hovered near 50-50 odds.

The surge in pessimistic sentiment overnight reflected growing concerns about how political uncertainty might impact cryptocurrency markets. The timing of the prediction—targeting the first half of the week—suggested traders anticipated immediate market reactions to either a government shutdown or last-minute legislative resolution. The concentration of bearish expectations in such a specific timeframe indicated that Myriad users saw the Congressional deadline as a critical inflection point for Bitcoin’s short-term trajectory.

While prediction markets leaned bearish, industry experts offered a more optimistic perspective based on historical precedent. John Glover, chief investment officer at Bitcoin lender Ledn, noted that digital assets had weathered similar political storms during the Trump administration. “While this was previously used as a way to force the holdouts in Congress to be more flexible in negotiations, it was largely seen both times as a very temporary situation, and risk markets, which initially sold off, bounced back quickly,” Glover told Decrypt.

Glover specifically referenced two Trump-era shutdowns—a three-day closure in January 2018 and the record 35-day shutdown that remains the longest in U.S. history. In both instances, he observed that initial market selloffs were followed by rapid recoveries, with investors viewing price dips as buying opportunities. “The market will consider any dip in digital asset prices due to a shutdown as a buying opportunity,” Glover emphasized, suggesting that experienced traders might see potential market weakness as a chance to accumulate positions rather than a reason for panic.

The political backdrop featured familiar partisan divisions that complicated the path to a funding solution. House Republicans had approved a stopgap bill that would keep the U.S. government funded until November 21, but the legislation included cuts to healthcare benefits affecting millions of Americans—a provision that drew immediate Democratic opposition. The Senate, reconvening at 10 a.m. Eastern Time, faced the challenge of reconciling competing priorities before the shutdown deadline.

Despite Republican control of the Senate, their narrow 53-seat majority meant they needed Democratic support to reach the 60 votes required for a filibuster-proof vote on the bill. This political arithmetic created significant uncertainty about whether the continuing resolution could pass before funding expired. The legislative impasse reflected broader tensions between the parties over spending priorities, with healthcare cuts emerging as the primary point of contention in the stopgap funding measure.