Bitcoin Price Heads Lower. What Political Uncertainty Means for Cryptos.

Bitcoin is now trading about 10% off the record high it hit last month. (GIUSEPPE CACACE/AFP via Getty Images)

Bitcoin was falling on Tuesday as crypto investors braced for another bout of volatility ahead of a potential U.S. government shutdown.

The world’s largest token has slipped 1% over the past 24 hours, per data from CoinDesk. It’s now trading about 10% off the record high it hit last month.

Other digital assets were dropping too. Ethereum fell 2.8%, and Solana slid 3.9%, and XRP was down 2.9% over the past 24 hours, according to the Kraken crypto exchange.

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1Sources: CoinDesk (Bitcoin); Kraken (Ethereum,​Solana, XRP)

Created with Highcharts 9.0.1SolanaEthereumBitcoinXRPSept. 27Sept. 30-2-1012345678%

The moves came with Wall Street keeping a close eye on events in Washington, where congressional leaders are trying to strike a deal to pass a short-term funding measure. If they can’t do that by 12.01 a.m. Eastern time on Wednesday, the government will shut down.

Investors don’t seem too fazed by the impasse, with the benchmark S&P 500 closing at a record high on Monday.

“Either participants have factored it in or markets are due a shock,” Adam Morgan McCarthy, head of research at the crypto data provider Kaiko, told Barron’s.

He added that Bitcoin’s correlation to stocks is trending higher, while trading volumes are yet to pick up from the quieter summer period. He also said there could be an uptick in volatility ahead.

“These factors could combine to create some chop in the coming days as the shutdown talk grows.”

Write to George Glover at george.glover@dowjones.com