Cryptocurrency prices remained under pressure on Friday as the US government entered a partial shutdown after lawmakers missed a midnight funding deadline, adding another layer of uncertainty to a market that has already been struggling to find deals.
Bitcoin traded around $83,559, up about 1% on the day, but down about 6.8% over the past week, according to the price screen.
Ether stood near $2,686, down about 1.9% in the last 24 hours and 9% for the week. XRP changed hands near $1.72, down about 1.6% on the day and about 10% down in seven days.
The closing itself seems brief. The Senate approved a funding package, but the House is pending until Monday, so the government still suffers a technical lapse over the weekend.
That timing is important for risk assets because it lands squarely on tight weekend liquidity and a strong headline cycle, which can put pressure on bitcoin and the broader crypto market over the weekend.
There is also a clear crypto angle here that is not simply “risk avoidance.” Prediction markets have spent the last 24 hours showing just how confusing the definition of “close” can be.
The merchants of Polymarket and Kalshi were forced to think like lawyers. The government can “shut down” on paper at 12:01 a.m. and still seem normal to most people for two days. That gap between legal status and real-world impact is exactly where contract wording and settlement rules start to bite.
For cryptocurrencies, the shutdown headline looks more like a sentiment stress test than a direct economic shock. It keeps traders cautious, pushes people into smaller positions, and makes dips feel more intense because buyers don’t want to be staring at the weekend news.
