US Government Shutdown Disrupts Crypto Regulations, But Big Investors Buy ETF

JAKARTA - The price of Bitcoin (BTC) has weakened slightly -0.15% in the last 24 hours and was perched at the level of 107,850 US dollars (Rp1.79 billion) on Thursday, October 23. But now, Bitcoin is back up to 111,240 US dollars (Rp1.85 billion).

According to the Ajaib Financial Expert, Panji Yudha, crypto market sentiment is under pressure by the temporary closure of the United States government which has lasted 22 days.

With only essential staff working, many important discussions in Congress and regulators such as the US, this condition is considered to hamper policy and regulations that are very important for the crypto industry.

"The work of the main regulator has also stopped. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has postponed the consideration of new exchange-traded (ETP) and initial public offering (IPO) products," Panji said in a statement.

The SEC even indicated uncertainty over the approval of dozens of new ETFs with extreme leverage levels (up to five times) proposed during the shutdown.

Whereas previously, the SEC had made exceptions to make it easier for companies to go public during shutdown. The SEC will also not impose sanctions on companies that eliminate pricing information from the IPO prospectus submitted during the closing period.

Although macro sentiment is still pressing, Panji explained that the latest data on the flow of funds shows a change in direction from institutional investors.

"Data on the flow of funds from Bitcoin and Ethereum Spot ETF showed a strong reversal of institutional sentiment on October 21, 2025, after the dominant outflow period at the start of the week," he said.

The Bitcoin ETF recorded an inflow of USD 477.19 million (approximately IDR 7.91 trillion), which restored the total net asset value to USD 151.58 billion.

Meanwhile, Ethereum's ETF also recorded a positive inflow of USD 141.66 million (approximately IDR 2.35 trillion), nearly closing losses the previous day.

"This strong and sudden entry rate confirms the return of institutional trust in major crypto assets and provides a significant bullish signal for short-term price movements," concluded Panji.