SEC Delays Crypto ETF Decisions Amid U.S. Government Shutdown — Will October Be Bullish for Crypto?

The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has delayed various crypto ETF decisions due to the speculations going on with the potential U.S. government shutdown. Some analysts opine that the delay could be fueled by the SEC’s transition to the new listing standards. The turbulence over the U.S. government shutdown has already significantly impacted the various federal operations and the crypto sphere.

According to the latest information, the U.S. SEC has a backlog of decisions on 16 cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds (ETFs) scheduled for October 2025. The recent news of the regulating authority missing its final deadline on the canary Litecoin(LTC) ETF due to the government shutdown raised concerns among investors and service providers.

The SEC Delayed Decisions on Cryptocurrency Exchange Traded Funds for SOL, ETH, and LTC

The ongoing conflict regarding the U.S. government shutdown has forced the SEC to delay the final decisions on cryptocurrency exchange-traded funds for SOL, ETH, and LTC. The experts believe that the ongoing turbulence has left the regulating authority operating with reduced staff. The SEC missed its final deadline for the Canary Litecoin ETF on October 2, 2025, raising concerns within the crypto community. With the decision anticipated on October 2, the crypto market was on the verge of witnessing the first ETF approval for altcoins under the Securities Exchange Act of 1933. 

The studies from crypto experts and diplomats have confirmed that the U.S. government shutdown conflicts have a big impact on ETF application processing since it has limited the SEC’s operational capacity. They believe that the SEC is unable to process the filings, with much of its staff unavailable to process approvals. According to the SEC’s database, the current tension has caused a backlog and delayed over 90 crypto ETF filings, including spot ETFs for Solana and Ethereum.  

Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart has claimed that the SEC can approve all of these applications whenever it wants, and the deadline might not be a matter, and it is not a factor to be concerned with. He mentioned that there were a lot of questions from clients and people on there because the CanaryFunds Litecoin filing had been technically due that day under 19b-4. He added that, as multiple people had reported, it looked like the SEC wanted everyone to file under the new Generic listing standards for all of those products. This meant that the deadline date might not matter at all. He also noted that the government shutdown really threw a wrench into things.

Will October Be Bullish for Crypto as The SEC Freezes ETF Review?

For cryptocurrencies and the crypto market, October is “Uptober.” All the investors and crypto enthusiasts are awaiting a better month after the “Red September” saga, and the turbulence caused due to the possible U.S. government shutdown could be a factor in determining October’s market sentiment. Yahoo Finance confirmed that the SEC had a contingency plan for situations like this, which clearly stated that only emergency cases would be reviewed during a shutdown. Everything else, including new financial product applications, was off the table for now, which left crypto ETF filings stuck in limbo. The SEC initially planned to handle around 90 filings this month, and the delay could make a big impact on the cryptocurrency market performance.   

LTC price surged around 15% in a week, and its trading volume has suddenly decreased by 5% as the SEC ETF decision got delayed. The impact that the SEC decision has on the crypto market is monumental, and it can make a huge difference.

The analysts believe that the SEC’s freeze due to the government shutdown could delay the immediate short-term bullish sentiment in the crypto market, and they also believe that the market momentum will be bullish once the SEC’s ETF decisions resume. Jonathan Groth, a partner at DGIM Law, stated that the fourth quarter of 2025 was shaping up to be a boom time for crypto ETF issuers. He mentioned that those applications were well advanced in the review stages and that recent regulatory changes should speed up approvals.