🚧 ETF Deadlock Ahead?

Welcome back, Readers! 🌞

This week in WhaleTales…

Breaking: The U.S. government shutdown signals major delays. What does that mean for crypto ETFs? Full details inside. 👇

Spotlight: Crypto advocate Elon Musk revamped his Bitcoin endorsement, calling it energy-based and “impossible to fake.” Is something big incoming?

Headlines:

• US Shutdown Catalysts ETF Risks

• Is Musk Backing Bitcoin Again?

• Coinbase, Robinhood Down for AWS Outage

• Paxos Makes $300T Minting Error

• Monad Airdrop Portal is Now Open 

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📊 News flash: The US Federal Government shutdown, which began on October 1, 2025, has entered its 3^rd week, temporarily paralyzing crypto ETF approvals.

The Crypto ETF Roadblock 🔒

The backstory: The U.S. government shutdown under the Trump administration has surpassed 40 days, marking itself as the third-longest since the 2018-2019 shutdown.

What happened?

The Oct 1 shutdown began because the Republicans and the Democrats failed to reach a consensus on a budget agreement by the end of the new fiscal year. Non-essential government services are suspended, halting financial approvals.

Crypto ETFs Impacted: Crypto regulatory bodies like the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), which oversees ETFs, now have a skeleton staff. As a result, ongoing SEC operations have been temporarily paused, and approval deadlines have been missed. Almost 16 crypto ETF approvals are pending. Once the shutdown ends, the SEC is expected to process the ETF approvals quickly and remove the backlog.

What This Means: Analysts expected that October could be blissful for ETFs, leading to a surge in institutional inflows. Furthermore, in September 2025, the SEC passed “generic listing standards” that could accelerate the approval timeline for ETFs. The recent U.S. government shutdown has stalled approvals and billions of potential inflows. However, some experts believe the shutdown and uncertainty could spike ETF demand.  

🔗 Related: Wall Street Dumps Altcoin ETFs Amid Crypto Crash.

🔔 Bitcoin Buzz: Elon Musk renews his support for Bitcoin. This time, he calls it an energy-based asset. Does this mean the dramatic feud between Musk and Trump is finally cooling off, especially since Trump envisions building a crypto-pro nation? Only time will tell. 

Bitcoin is Energy 🔋

On October 14, Musk responded to an X user “Zerohedge,” who argued that the soaring prices in gold, silver, and Bitcoin indicate “debasement” needed to fund global AI technologies.

To this comment, Musk replied on X:

The Big U-Turn ↩️

In 2021, Tesla CEO Elon Musk suspended vehicle purchases using Bitcoin for climate concerns, leading to a sharp decline in Bitcoin prices.

Trump’s latest remark contradicts his 2021 stance. In his recent post on X, he emphasized that Bitcoin is an energy-intensive digital asset, built on the Proof-of-Work (PoW) model, making it tamperproof and impossible to fake, unlike fiat currencies. Musk’s subtle endorsement signals speculation about his future Bitcoin plans following Trump’s pro-crypto agenda.

👉 Also Read: Bank of England Targets Late 2026 for Stablecoin Regulation. 

Coinbase & Robinhood Down Amid Amazon Outage ⚠️

On Monday, global crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, KuCoin, Robinhood, and several other platforms were disrupted after Amazon Web Services (AWS) reported an outage in Northern Virginia. The outage disrupted Coinbase’s mobile application, crippled withdrawals, and caused latency and errors.

📎Read More at Fortune.  

Paxos Makes $300 Trillion Stablecoin Minting Error 🤯

Paxos, the blockchain partner of PayPal, mistakenly mints $300 trillion of PYUSD stablecoin within 22 minutes. The entire amount was sent to a burned address, erasing excess tokens from the circulation. The incident has raised concerns about a potential security breach, but Paxos has issued a statement saying, “This was an internal technical error. There is no security breach.”

📎Read More at CNBC. 

Monad Airdrop Portal is Now Open: Nov 3 Deadline 🪂

Monad, the EVM-compatible layer-1 blockchain, has confirmed that it has opened its portal for the much-anticipated MON airdrop for eligible users ahead of its forthcoming token distribution. The airdrop is not yet live, but interested users can check their eligibility and connect wallets.

📎Read More at The MON Airdrop. 

Latest in Crypto Travel Card

A crypto travel card is a credit card connected to a digital wallet that allows travellers to pay for their travel expenses in crypto quickly and easily. On 21 October 2025, Crypto.com signed an MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with fintech Travel Wallet to welcome a prepaid card that supports the Korean Won-based stablecoin to streamline cross-border transactions.

👉 Read the News at Crypto.com.

🎲 Play the Quiz

Last week’s quiz result: Stablecoin.

We have heard you. To make our quiz even more exciting, we will be adding quick explainers to our quiz answers, where needed.

Love your responses and keep playing, folks! 🫶

The top five Cryptos according to CoinMarketCap, October 22.

• Taiwanese stablecoin payment firm OwlTing set for Nasdaq debut via direct listing. The Block

• Ripple moves 220M XRP to fresh wallet amid treasury firm initiative. CoinCentral

• “Crypto King” Kidnapper Pleads Guilty as Co-Defendants' Trial Delayed. Yahoo News

• OpenSea Set to Reward Investors With Massive SEA Token Airdrop Ahead of Q1 2026 Launch. CoinStats

That’s it for this week, folks. 👋

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Disclaimer: The information provided in this newsletter is educational and not intended for any investment or financial advice.