U.S. Government Shutdown Threatens Dollar Supremacy as $1.2T Spending Freeze Rattles Markets
The U.S. government shutdown has escalated into a full-blown crisis, freezing $1.2 trillion in federal spending across Defense, Treasury, and critical agencies. With the SEC operating at skeletal capacity, market oversight functions like Corporation Finance and Trading & Markets are effectively paralyzed.
Nigel Green of deVere Group observes the dollar’s bedrock stability is 'cracking' as repeated fiscal brinksmanship erodes institutional confidence. The shutdown coincides with Bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) testing key resistance levels, while altcoins like SOL and XRP show unusual correlation breaks against traditional markets.
Exchanges including Binance and Coinbase report heightened stablecoin flows as traders hedge dollar exposure. 'When the world’s reserve currency becomes a political football, alternatives gain appeal,' notes a Bitget strategist. Meme coins (DOGE, SHIB) and institutional favorites (FIL, DOT) alike are seeing atypical volume surges.