Crypto this week (5–11 Oct 2026): EU sets a stablecoin deadline as the US drops a wallet plan

If you follow crypto from Europe, this was a week to glance across the Atlantic. If you follow it from the US, it was a week to glance the other way. Between 5 and 11 October 2026, the two sides' crypto rules moved in different directions: the EU's markets regulator set a three-month deadline for stablecoins without EU authorisation, while a US agency withdrew a plan to report transfers to personal wallets. Prices, meanwhile, followed oil and war headlines. Here is the week side by side.

Key points: what happened in crypto this week?

• Bitcoin fell 3.2% in dollars and 2.8% in euros to $83,691 (€74,694), after a low of $80,337 on 8 October. Ether fell 7.0% in dollars.
• EU: on 8 October, ESMA said licensed crypto firms should stop offering stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA, with remaining positions dealt with within three months.
• US: on 5 October, FinCEN withdrew its 2020 proposal to report crypto transfers to self-hosted wallets.
• EU governments agreed that only the most significant cross-border crypto firms should move straight to supervision by ESMA, while the US CFTC opened its own crypto rulemaking.
• Ledger said it was investigating reports of stolen funds linked to devices sold by a reseller in Southeast Asia.

The market: the same headlines on both sides

Prices are global, so this part is the same wherever you live. Bitcoin (BTC) opened on Monday 5 October near its week high of $86,972 (€77,400). On Wednesday 7 October, renewed Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz pushed Brent crude, a benchmark oil price, above $101, while US bond yields and the dollar rose too. Bitcoin fell through $83,000. The trading firm Wintermute, quoted by CoinDesk, named "rising oil prices, Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar" as the pressure.

On Thursday 8 October, an Axios report that the Pentagon had told US Central Command to prepare to resume major combat operations against Iran sent oil higher. Around midday US time, President Trump posted: "We will not be attacking Iran at any time prior to the Midterm Elections to be held in the United States on November 3rd." Oil dropped. Bitcoin still touched the week's low of $80,337 (€71,641) about an hour later, then recovered to about $82,000 by late that evening, US time. It closed the week at $83,691 (€74,694), down 3.2% in dollars and 2.8% in euros.

Ether (ETH) fell further: 7.0% in dollars and 6.6% in euros, to $2,535 (€2,262). On 7 October, Bitmine chairman Tom Lee said the company, which held 6,016,414 ETH (about 4.9% of all ether), would stop buying at 5% of supply. Ether fell about 5% over 24 hours. Decrypt noted that the fall came the same day, but neither Decrypt nor CoinDesk said his comments caused it; CoinDesk put it down to wider weakness in the crypto market.

Money also left funds. A net $681.1 million left US spot bitcoin ETFs (exchange-traded funds that hold actual bitcoin), ending a three-week run of inflows. A net $542.1 million left ether ETFs, which The Block called their worst week since January.

EU: a three-month clock for unauthorised stablecoins

A stablecoin is a crypto token designed to keep a steady value against a currency such as the euro or the US dollar. On 8 October, ESMA, the EU's securities markets regulator, published an opinion on services involving stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA, the EU's crypto rulebook.

ESMA says licensed crypto firms (known as CASPs, crypto-asset service providers) "should cease providing services related to" such stablecoins, and should have controls that stop EU clients from buying more of them. National authorities should require remaining positions to be dealt with "as soon as possible and no later than three months after the publication of the opinion". Any service that continues should be strictly limited to selling, converting, withdrawing, transferring or safekeeping. The opinion is addressed to national supervisors. ESMA gives no calendar date; three months from 8 October is around 8 January 2027, by our count and CoinDesk's reading.

If you live in the EU: if you hold a stablecoin without MiCA authorisation on an EU platform, the platform may only let you sell, convert or withdraw it, not buy more. Check your platform's notices. Our stablecoins course explains how these tokens work.

US: a wallet-reporting proposal withdrawn

On 5 October, FinCEN, the US Treasury's anti-money-laundering bureau, withdrew two proposed rules that never took effect. The first, from December 2020, would have required banks and money-service businesses, including exchanges, to keep records, verify identities and report transactions with "unhosted" wallets. CoinDesk says it targeted transfers over $10,000. The second, from 2023, would have treated crypto "mixing", which blends coins to obscure where they came from, as a class of transactions of primary money-laundering concern.

FinCEN said it "has considered the comments submitted" and that the withdrawal is "part of the Trump Administration's deregulatory agenda" to make digital-asset rules "fit-for-purpose".

If you live in the US: an unhosted, or self-hosted, wallet is one where you hold the keys yourself. US exchanges won't face this extra reporting layer. Because both were only proposals, existing anti-money-laundering and identity-check rules still apply. Learn the difference between wallet types in storing cryptocurrencies.

EU: who should supervise the most significant crypto firms

On 9 October, the Council of the EU, where member-state governments sit, agreed key elements of its negotiating position on the Commission's December 2025 package on market integration and supervision. On crypto, the Council's press release says "only the most significant cross-border crypto-asset service providers (CASPs) would become immediately subject to ESMA supervision", replacing the Commission's proposal to bring all such firms under ESMA. Other crypto firms would not move to ESMA straight away. This is a negotiating position, not law: the European Parliament still has to adopt its own.

The same day, the Council confirmed Carlo Comporti, a commissioner at Italy's market regulator CONSOB, as ESMA's next Chair from 1 November 2026, succeeding Verena Ross. He previously chaired ESMA's committee on digital finance, which covers crypto and MiCA.

In France, the National Assembly's finance committee backed treating swaps of crypto into MiCA-regulated stablecoins as taxable sales, under France's 31.4% flat tax, during the 2027 budget debate, then on 9 October rejected the budget's whole revenue section by 31 votes to 3. None of it is law.

US: the CFTC starts with questions

Also on 5 October, the CFTC, the US derivatives regulator, issued an advance notice of proposed rulemaking: the earliest stage, made of questions rather than rules. It asks how to prevent abusive practices in everyday crypto trading under one national set of rules, and whether to create a "crypto asset market", a new kind of regulated exchange. Comments close on 14 December 2026. In the EU, MiCA already licenses crypto trading platforms.

Both sides: a hardware-wallet warning

A hardware wallet is a small device that keeps the keys to your crypto offline. On 9 October, the maker Ledger said it was investigating reports of stolen funds linked to devices sold through CryptoBilis, a reseller in Southeast Asia. A pseudonymous blockchain investigator, Specter, said "more than $86 million in crypto may have been stolen from hundreds of wallets". Ledger did not confirm the amount or the cause.

Ledger asked CryptoBilis to pause sales. It told customers who had bought from it in the past 90 days not to set up their devices, and those who already had to consider moving their funds to a new device with a newly generated recovery phrase, the list of words that can restore a wallet.

Wherever you live: buying a hardware wallet from the maker or an authorised seller lowers this kind of risk but does not remove it, and never use a device that arrives with a recovery phrase already set. Our introduction to security covers the basics.

What to take from this week, wherever you live

In the EU, the direction is tighter: platforms have a deadline to stop offering stablecoins without MiCA authorisation, and governments are negotiating who should supervise the most significant firms. The deadline affects what your platform may offer you; the supervision debate doesn't change anything yet.

In the US, one agency dropped a reporting proposal and another started asking questions about future rules. Neither creates new obligations for you today.

Everywhere, prices moved with oil, bond yields and war headlines, and the hardware-wallet reports are a reminder to check where your device comes from.

What you can do now

• Learn how the EU's crypto rules work in our course on crypto rules in the EU.
• See why oil, yields and interest-rate news move crypto prices in about the crypto market.
• New to ETFs and fund flows? Start with investment basics.

Questions readers ask

What did ESMA decide about stablecoins on 8 October 2026?

It said licensed crypto firms in the EU should stop offering services for stablecoins that do not comply with MiCA, and that remaining positions should be dealt with within three months.

Is the US rule on reporting transfers to self-hosted wallets gone?

Yes. It was a 2020 proposal that never took effect, and FinCEN withdrew it on 5 October 2026. Existing anti-money-laundering rules still apply.

What happened to the bitcoin price between 5 and 11 October 2026?

It started near $86,972, fell to $80,337 on 8 October and closed at $83,691, down 3.2% in dollars and 2.8% in euros.

Crypto prices can rise and fall sharply, and you could lose some or all of the money you put in. Crypto is not covered by deposit protection. This article is for education, not financial advice.