Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.

It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big-picture power shifts remaking our world.

What's going on, guys? It is Thursday, November 13th, and today we're talking about what the end of the government shutdown means for crypto. Before we get into that, however, if you're enjoying the breakdown, please go subscribe to it, give it a rating, give it a review, or if you want to dive deeper into the conversation, come join us on the Breakers Discord. You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.ly slash breakdown pod. Well, friends, after 43 days, the longest government shutdown has come to an end.

The deal to reopen the U.S. government was signed by the president late on Wednesday.

Funding of federal agencies and programs has resumed. Federal workers are returning to their

desks, and the risk of massive flight cancellations over Thanksgiving weekend has been removed.

For the crypto industry, however, the reopening means regulatory agencies in Congress can

return to pushing through the administration's crypto agenda. At the CFTC, it looks like

one of the first orders of business will be to install incoming chairman Mike Selig.

Selig is a crypto lawyer who worked at Wilkie Far through the last cycle and enjoys near

unanimous support from industry figures. His confirmation hearing has now been set for next Wednesday,

so almost 10 months after inauguration day, we could finally have a CFTC chair.

All the other CFTC commissioners resigned earlier this year, with acting chair Caroline

FAM getting ready to finish up as soon as Selig is confirmed.

That means that the administration will need to fill out a few more seats before moving forward with the rulemaking process. Although staff have been furloughed, FAMM has kept moving policy

along during the shutdown. Earlier this week, she confirmed that spot crypto trading,

including the use of leverage, will be coming to CFTC regulated venues as soon as next

month. That means that TradFI venues like the CME and CBOE will be coming to CFTC regulated venues as soon as next month. That means

that Tradfai venues like the CME and CBOE will be able to host spot markets for the first time.

Institutional demand seems to have been pretty well satisfied by the ETFs, so it's unclear

if spot markets on the CME will move the needle that much, but having spot futures and options

all available on the same exchange could make carry trades

...