Bitcoin started the week of October 26–November 1 at around $80,100. Ether was trading near $2,320 at the time of writing.
The Fed’s interest-rate decision and US inflation data are at the center of the market’s attention. Balancer’s transition to withdrawal mode, corporate earnings and network upgrades will also shape the week.
Fed decision will arrive before the PCE report
The Federal Reserve will hold its penultimate meeting of the year on October 27–28. Its official calendar shows the decision arriving on Wednesday, October 28, at 9:00 p.m. Türkiye time.
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s press conference will begin at 9:30 p.m. Of the 100 economists surveyed by Reuters, 94 expect the target rate to remain at 3.75%–4%.
The Fed raised rates by 25 basis points at its September meeting. Investors will now focus on any signals about the December meeting.
The PCE report will arrive one day after the decision. According to the BEA calendar, the data will be released on Thursday, October 29, at 3:30 p.m. Türkiye time.
Annual PCE inflation stood at 3.4% in August. The FactSet median forecast expects the September rate to climb to 3.7%.
The forecast for core PCE inflation stands at 3.1%. A higher result could strengthen expectations for another rate increase in December.
The first estimate of US third-quarter economic growth will be published at the same time. Personal income, spending and weekly jobless claims will also be released.
The third-quarter Employment Cost Index will arrive on Friday, October 30, at 3:30 p.m. The report will show the latest level of wage-driven inflation pressure.
Four other major central banks will announce decisions
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand will publish its interest-rate decision on October 28 at 4:00 a.m. Türkiye time. Its current policy rate stands at 2.75%.
Markets assign a probability of around 75% to an increase to 3%. The Bank of Canada will announce its decision later that day at 4:45 p.m.
Governor Tiff Macklem’s press conference will begin at 5:30 p.m. Of the 34 economists surveyed by Reuters, 19 expect a 25-basis-point increase, which would lift the policy rate to 2.50%.
The European Central Bank will announce its decision on Thursday, October 29, at 4:15 p.m. Christine Lagarde’s press conference will begin at 4:45 p.m.
Most economists expect the deposit rate to remain at 2.50%. Expectations for a 25-basis-point increase in December are gaining prominence.
The Bank of Japan will meet on October 29–30. Its decision is expected on the morning of October 30, followed by a press conference at 9:30 a.m. Türkiye time.
Reuters surveys point to the rate remaining at 1.25%. Markets are pricing in the possibility of an increase to 1.50% in December.
Oil prices keep inflation risks alive
Brent crude traded near $110 on the first day of the week. The price reached $116.72 on Friday, its highest level since June 2022.
The war with Iran and disruptions to energy shipments continue to keep the risk premium elevated. Another rise in oil prices could influence the Fed, ECB and BOJ decisions.
The UK government will present its Autumn Budget on October 28. Tax and borrowing decisions could move sterling and global bond yields.
Now, let's move on to crypto developments. The crypto market also faces a busy week of protocol, exchange and token-related developments:
Balancer will enter withdrawal mode
The Balancer community approved an orderly wind-down of the protocol in September. BIP-928 calls for eligible pools to enter withdrawal mode on October 30.
The bug bounty program will end on the same date. The final pause of the V3 Vault is scheduled for November 30.
The community is also voting on BIP-934, BIP-935 and BIP-936. The results are expected to become final on October 27.
BIP-934 proposes burning the DAO’s holdings of 10 million BEETS. The tokens have a nominal value of approximately $39,000.
BIP-936 defines the technical onchain steps required for the shutdown. The plan will close pool factories and reduce protocol fees to zero.
Authorized parties will be able to pause eligible pools on October 30. Withdrawal functions will remain available to users.
BNB Chain, Hedera and Unichain will undergo upgrades
BNB Chain will activate its Jenner upgrade on the testnet on October 28. The mainnet date will be announced later.
Jenner will reserve 5% of block capacity for eligible payments. The upgrade will also introduce millisecond timestamps and CAS20 support.
Hedera will upgrade to version 0.78.2 at 8:00 p.m. Türkiye time on the same day. Its status page warns of a service interruption lasting approximately 40 minutes.
The Unichain mainnet will migrate to OP Enterprise infrastructure on October 29. Chain ID, balances, applications and contracts will remain unchanged.
Optimism will take over sequencer, RPC and incident-management operations under the new structure. The migration will prepare Unichain for native interoperability across OP Stack chains.
Lisk Chain will cease operations on October 31. The project has asked users to withdraw all assets by that date.
Bridge transactions can take seven days, creating a risk of delays. The warning covers LSK, ETH, stablecoins and DeFi positions.
Binance, Bybit and Bitget will delist trading pairs
Binance will end spot trading for EPIC and QUICK on October 28 at 6:00 a.m. Türkiye time. Open orders and trading bots will close at the same time.
The exchange will stop crediting deposits made after October 29 at 6:00 a.m. Withdrawals will remain available until December 28 at 6:00 a.m.
Bybit will close HFT deposits on October 27 at 11:00 a.m. HFT/USDT spot trading will end on October 28 at 11:00 a.m.
Bitget will remove the ZENT, MOODENG and HEI pairs on October 30 at 1:00 p.m. The exchange will keep withdrawals open until January 30, 2027.
CFTC will discuss AI-driven trading
The CFTC will begin its Frontier Forum meeting on October 28 at 8:00 p.m. Türkiye time. The program will focus on superintelligence and autonomous trading systems.
The second session will cover AI agents that conduct financial transactions. Participants will discuss how existing CFTC rules apply to these activities.
The meeting does not mark the introduction of a new regulation. It could still provide a policy signal for autonomous financial applications linked to crypto.
M, FF and EIGEN unlocks stand out
MemeCore will conduct the week’s largest token unlock. The project will release 56.11 million M tokens on November 1.
Based on the token’s price on the morning of October 26, the unlock is worth approximately $56 million. The amount represents around 2.8% of the circulating supply.
Falcon Finance will unlock 75 million FF on October 29 at 2:52 p.m. The tokens are currently worth approximately $7.42 million.
Some calendars show a second distribution of 128.06 million FF on the same day. Investors should therefore monitor the project’s final distribution figures.
EigenCloud will release 36.82 million EIGEN on October 31 at 4:15 p.m. The tokens are worth approximately $7.29 million at the current price.
The distribution covers investors and early contributors. The amount equals approximately 3.77% of the circulating supply.
ZORA will unlock 166.67 million tokens on October 30 at 5:46 a.m. The distribution, worth approximately $1.03 million, will go to the team, investors and treasury.
Another 271.06 million GUN will unlock on the same day at 2:52 p.m. The approximately $550,000 distribution equals close to 7% of the circulating supply.
Tracking sources publish different figures for SUI. DefiLlama shows 2.07 million SUI unlocking on October 31 at 5:31 a.m.
Another calendar calculates a total of 6.07 million SUI across two separate distributions. Approximately $1.9 million therefore represents a conservative lower estimate.
ZetaChain will unlock 44.26 million ZETA on November 1 at 12:58 p.m. The tokens are currently worth approximately $1.73 million.
All dollar values were calculated using spot prices on the morning of October 26 and are approximate.
Four crypto companies will report earnings
Galaxy Digital will publish its third-quarter results before the market opens on October 27. Its conference call will begin at 3:30 p.m. Türkiye time.
Robinhood will report its results after US markets close on the same day. The management webcast will begin at midnight Türkiye time on October 28.
Coinbase will publish its third-quarter results after the market closes on October 29. Its question-and-answer session will begin at midnight on October 30.
Strategy will also report after the closing bell on October 29. Investors will follow the valuation of its Bitcoin holdings, tax effects and capital raises.
The company’s webcast will begin at midnight Türkiye time on October 30.
Events will begin in Buenos Aires and Mumbai
LABITCONF will take place in Buenos Aires on October 30–31. The program will focus on Bitcoin, blockchain, artificial intelligence and Latin American markets.
India Blockchain Week will begin in Mumbai on November 1. The two-day conference will cover DeFi, infrastructure, tokenization and institutional adoption.
The DeFi Security Summit will also take place in Mumbai on November 1–2. Security researchers, auditors and protocol developers will attend the event.
This week’s 45-event crypto calendar
- October 26, 10:11 a.m. Türkiye time: Approximately $1.11 million in WAL unlocks.
- October 26, 12:58 p.m.: Approximately $1.50 million in ALT unlocks.
- October 27, 3:30 p.m.: Galaxy Digital’s third-quarter earnings.
- October 27, 3:30 p.m.: US durable goods orders.
- October 27, 5:00 p.m.: US consumer confidence.
- October 27, 5:00 p.m.: US new home sales.
- October 27: Results of Balancer proposals BIP-934, BIP-935 and BIP-936.
- October 28, midnight: Robinhood’s third-quarter earnings webcast.
- October 28, 3:00 a.m.: Approximately $518,000 in IOTA unlocks.
- October 28, 4:00 a.m.: Reserve Bank of New Zealand interest-rate decision.
- October 28, 11:00 a.m.: Bybit ends HFT trading.
- October 28, 6:00 a.m.: Binance ends EPIC and QUICK trading.
- October 28: BNB Chain’s Jenner testnet upgrade.
- October 28, 3:30 p.m.: US goods trade and wholesale inventory data.
- October 28, 4:45 p.m.: Bank of Canada interest-rate decision.
- October 28, 8:00 p.m.: CFTC Frontier Forum meeting.
- October 28, 8:00 p.m.: Hedera v0.78.2 mainnet upgrade.
- October 28, 9:00 p.m.: Fed interest-rate decision.
- October 28, 9:30 p.m.: Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s press conference.
- October 28: UK Autumn Budget.
- October 29, 2:52 p.m.: At least 75 million FF unlocks.
- October 29, 3:30 p.m.: First estimate of US third-quarter GDP growth.
- October 29, 3:30 p.m.: US September PCE inflation.
- October 29, 3:30 p.m.: US weekly jobless claims.
- October 29, 4:15 p.m.: ECB interest-rate decision.
- October 29: Unichain’s migration to OP Enterprise infrastructure.
- October 30, midnight: Coinbase’s third-quarter earnings webcast.
- October 30, midnight: Strategy’s third-quarter earnings webcast.
- October 30, 4:23 a.m.: Approximately $1.58 million in ASTER unlocks.
- October 30, 5:46 a.m.: Approximately $1.03 million in ZORA unlocks.
- Morning of October 30: Bank of Japan interest-rate decision.
- October 30, 1:00 p.m.: Bitget removes three spot trading pairs.
- October 30, 2:52 p.m.: Approximately $550,000 in GUN unlocks.
- October 30, 3:30 p.m.: US Employment Cost Index.
- October 30, 4:45 p.m.: Chicago PMI.
- October 30: Balancer pools enter withdrawal mode.
- October 30–31: LABITCONF Buenos Aires.
- October 31, 4:00 a.m.: Puffer Gauge vote concludes.
- Morning of October 31: SUI token unlock.
- October 31, 4:15 p.m.: Approximately $7.29 million in EIGEN unlocks.
- October 31: Final day to withdraw assets from Lisk Chain.
- November 1: Approximately $56 million in M unlocks.
- November 1, 12:58 p.m.: Approximately $1.73 million in ZETA unlocks.
- November 1: India Blockchain Week begins.
- November 1: DeFi Security Summit begins.
