Bitcoin has been trending on social media over the last few days as US politicians have been working toward an end to the disruptive US government shutdown, culminating in the Senate’s passage of the highly contested funding bill on Monday.
It reportedly took around 10 hours for Republicans to get the job done on Monday and obtain the 60 votes (eight being Democrats) needed to pass a funding bill that would cover most of the government’s expenses through to the end of January next year.
“After passage, the CR goes to the House for a vote before we reopen. Hopefully, we’re open by Wednesday,” noted Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin via X on Monday.
If the bill passes the House of Representatives, it would then be sent to US President Donald Trump for approval, which would bring an end to the longest US government shutdown on record.
The US government shutdown has been disruptive, with over 1 million federal employees being left unpaid, according to CNN.
Government agencies that deal with the crypto sector, such as the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission, have been left with minimal staff.
Other sectors, particularly air travel, have also been disrupted, with unpaid air traffic controllers ultimately leading to a severe labour shortage that has seen airports across the US cancel, delay and scale down daily flights.
Bitcoin Recovers Past $106,000
With various reports over the weekend speculating the US government shutdown was nearing an end, the price of Bitcoin (BTC) also spiked upward.
After dropping as low as $99,300 on Friday, BTC has since increased by 6.7% to reach around $106,000 at the time of writing, according to CoinGecko data.
According to a Monday post from blockchain analytics platform Santiment, the tag “$BTC” has been the top-trending cryptocurrency on social media over the past few days, suggesting that enthusiasm and bullish momentum are picking back up as the shutdown comes to an end.
“$BTC: Trending due to its recent price surge past $106K, optimism around the US government shutdown resolution, and bullish market sentiment,” the post reads, adding:
“Analysts predict a rise to $150K by year-end, highlighting Bitcoin's role as a store of value and symbol of digital trust. Additionally, Bitcoin adoption is growing with over 4 million Square merchants now able to accept Bitcoin payments with zero fees, marking a milestone in mainstream payment integration.”
Alongside BTC, the next four trending crypto assets include: Starknet (STRK), Uniswap (UNI), Monero (XMR) and XRP (XRP), which have all attracted extra attention on various technological developments, token price surges or key partnerships.