Hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including around 90% of the SEC’s 4,600 employees, will be furloughed without pay if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal year starting October 1

Approvals on new ETFs, including bitcoin spot ETFs, could face delays if the U.S. government shuts down next month for the fourth time in a decade.

Hundreds of thousands of federal workers, including around 90% of the SEC’s 4,600 employees, will be furloughed without pay if Congress fails to provide funding for the fiscal year starting October 1.

The Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler recently cautioned in a media interview that the agency will operate with a “skeletal” staff during a shutdown.

I am not sure if exchange-traded funds that have been filed for approval can move forward with the government shutdown, said Todd Rosenbluth, head of research at VettaFi.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has to refuse new exchange-traded funds and the absence of personnel could permit launches to take place, he added.

For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission has pushed back the decision on whether to approve applications for spot Bitcoin ETFs to mid-October, but that could possibly be delayed further should the shutdown continue for that long.

This would just delay yet another decision on the never ending spot Bitcoin decision, said Todd Sohn, ETF and technical strategist at Strategas Securities.

I’d wager investor and issuer patience is already running thin with regards to that product, so a shutdown adds to the agitation, he added.

Moreover, listed funds may face heightened volatility, analysts cautioned.

ETFs are just pass through vehicles, impact on the underlying markets will obviously affect ETFs, said Hector McNeil, co-Chief Executive Officer and founder of HANetf.

McNeil added: People will also probably pause if they are about to launch (new ETFs) and wait for steady waters.