Shutdown Jitters, ETF Tsunami & Crypto Power Plays – Top Crypto News (Sept 24–25, 2025)
A looming U.S. government shutdown spooked investors and weighed on crypto markets. Major cryptocurrencies stumbled over the past 48 hours, largely under pressure from mounting macroeconomic risks. Ether led the pullback, dropping over 3% during Asian trading hours Thursday to test the $4,000 level for the first time since early August coindesk.com. Bitcoin also dipped about 1%, sliding under $112,000 coindesk.com. A broad swath of altcoins followed suit: XRP, Solana and Dogecoin all fell roughly 2.5–3%, with Solana teetering just above the key $200 mark coindesk.com coindesk.com. The CoinDesk 20 index of top digital assets sank ~2% on the day coindesk.com, reflecting a defensive mood across the market. Driving this caution are fears of a U.S. federal government shutdown. On prediction markets like Polymarket, traders put the odds of a 2025 shutdown at record highs – 63% by Oct. 1 and 77% by year-end, as Washington hurtles toward a funding deadline coindesk.com. According to media reports, the White House has asked agencies to prepare for furloughs and job cuts if Congress fails to pass a budget in time coindesk.com. The prospect of a disruptive shutdown injected a risk-off tone: “growing concerns about a potential government shutdown may have contributed to
