This week the US Federal Reserve announces its rate decision on Wednesday, the US gets its first estimate of third-quarter growth and the latest PCE inflation data on Thursday, the European Central Bank decides the same day, and Coinbase, Strategy and Robinhood report quarterly results. On top of that, several token unlocks and Ripple's monthly XRP escrow release fall in the same seven days.
This is a calendar, not a forecast. Below are the dates and times, with sources for each. All times are in UTC, with US Eastern Time in brackets. The US is still on daylight time this week, so 2:00 p.m. ET is 18:00 UTC.
Dates at a glance
- Mon Oct 26: last day of Blast's normal withdrawal interface
- Tue Oct 27: Robinhood Q3 results after the US close
- Wed Oct 28, 03:00 UTC (11:00 p.m. ET Tue): Binance ends spot trading for EPIC and QUICK
- Wed Oct 28: Sign (SIGN) token unlock
- Wed Oct 28, 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. ET): Fed rate decision; press conference at 18:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. ET)
- Thu Oct 29, 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET): US Q3 GDP advance estimate, September PCE inflation, weekly jobless claims
- Thu Oct 29, 13:15 UTC (9:15 a.m. ET): ECB decision; press conference at 13:45 UTC (9:45 a.m. ET)
- Thu Oct 29: Falcon Finance (FF) and Collector Crypt (CARDS) token unlocks
- Thu Oct 29, after the US close: Coinbase and Strategy Q3 results
- Fri Oct 30: Kamino (KMNO) token unlock
- Sat Oct 31: Bitcoin monthly close
- Oct 31–Nov 1: EigenCloud (EIGEN) and Sui (SUI) token unlocks
- Sun Nov 1: Ripple's monthly escrow release of 1 billion XRP
Monday, October 26
Blast, the Layer 2 network that is shutting down, keeps its normal withdrawal interface open until today, according to Base Camp's week-ahead calendar (https://basecamp.markets/crypto-week-ahead-october-26/). Anyone with funds still there should check Blast's own announcements.
Tuesday, October 27
Robinhood reports its third-quarter results after the US market close, with its call at 21:00 UTC (5:00 p.m. ET), per Base Camp (https://basecamp.markets/crypto-week-ahead-october-26/).
Wednesday, October 28
At 03:00 UTC (11:00 p.m. ET on Tuesday), Binance ends spot trading for EPIC and QUICK, according to Base Camp.
Sign (SIGN) unlocks 401.1 million tokens on Wednesday, per Tokenomist data compiled by Base Camp (https://basecamp.markets/token-unlocks-october-26/).
The main event comes in the evening, UTC time. The Federal Open Market Committee ends its two-day meeting (October 27–28) and publishes its decision at 18:00 UTC (2:00 p.m. ET). Chair Kevin Warsh holds a press conference at 18:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. ET). The federal funds target range is currently 3.75%–4.00%, after the Fed raised rates by 25 basis points on September 16. There is no new Summary of Economic Projections at this meeting; the next one comes with the December 8–9 meeting, according to the Fed's calendar (https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomccalendars.htm).
Economists and markets widely expect a hold. In a Reuters poll published on October 20, 94 of 100 economists expected the Fed to leave rates unchanged this week, and all 100 expected a hike in December, as reported by Investing.com (https://www.investing.com/news/economy-news/fed-to-skip-october-but-raise-rates-again-in-december-nearly-all-economists-say-reuters-poll-4960095). FinanceFeeds has a preview of the statement (https://financefeeds.com/fed-decision-wednesday-94-of-100-economists-expect-a-hold-and-all-100-a-december-hike-what-the-statement-has-to-say-for-gold-oil-and-bitcoin/). Expectations are not outcomes.
Thursday, October 29
At 12:30 UTC (8:30 a.m. ET), the US Bureau of Economic Analysis publishes the advance estimate of third-quarter 2026 GDP and Personal Income and Outlays for September 2026. The second release includes PCE inflation, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge. Both are listed on the BEA release schedule (https://bea.gov/news/schedule). Weekly US jobless claims come out at the same time, per The Crypto Times (https://www.cryptotimes.io/2026/10/26/crypto-week-ahead-fomc-decision-coinbase-strategy-earnings-gdp-pce-data/).
At 13:15 UTC (9:15 a.m. ET), the European Central Bank publishes its monetary policy decision after a two-day Governing Council meeting in Frankfurt on October 28–29. The press conference follows at 13:45 UTC (9:45 a.m. ET). Sources: the ECB meeting calendar (https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/calendars/mgcgc/html/index.en.html) and Coindaro (https://www.coindaro.com/events/ecb-interest-rate-decision-october-2026/). Europe moved off summer time on October 25, so Frankfurt is one hour ahead of UTC this week.
Two token unlocks fall on Thursday, per Tokenomist data via Base Camp: Falcon Finance (FF) unlocks 208.9 million tokens and Collector Crypt (CARDS) 59.3 million.
After the US market close, Coinbase publishes its third-quarter 2026 results and holds a live Q&A on X at 2:00 p.m. PT (21:00 UTC, 5:00 p.m. ET), according to the company's announcement (https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261014198206/en/Coinbase-Announces-Date-of-Third-Quarter-2026-Financial-Results). Strategy (MSTR), the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, also reports its third quarter after the close, with a webinar at 21:00 UTC (5:00 p.m. ET), per Base Camp.
Friday, October 30
Kamino (KMNO) unlocks 229.2 million tokens, per Tokenomist data via Base Camp (https://basecamp.markets/token-unlocks-october-26/).
Saturday, October 31
Bitcoin closes its monthly candle at the end of the day UTC.
Sunday, November 1
EigenCloud (EIGEN) unlocks 36.8 million tokens. Base Camp puts it on November 1, while OAK Research's calendar (https://oakresearch.io/en/feed/calendar) lists it on October 31, so trackers differ on the exact date. Sui (SUI) unlocks 13.1 million tokens around November 1 per Tokenomist; other trackers list different amounts and split it into several tranches.
Base Camp puts this week's total at about $77 million across nine tokens. Dollar values vary by tracker and with token prices. An unlock means tokens become transferable; it does not mean they will be sold.
Ripple's routine monthly escrow release of 1 billion XRP also takes place on November 1. Most of each release is usually returned to escrow and it is a routine monthly mechanism rather than new information, per Base Camp.
Finally, US clocks go back one hour on Sunday, November 1. From next week, 2:00 p.m. ET will be 19:00 UTC.
What this means for USDT holders
Weeks with a central bank decision and major data releases often bring bigger price swings across markets, crypto included. People respond in different ways. Some keep part of their holdings in a stablecoin such as USDT, some do nothing at all. This is not advice, and none of the events above guarantees any particular move.
If you do decide to move anything, the network matters more than the timing. USDT on Ethereum (ERC20) and USDT on Solana are separate tokens, so make sure the network matches your receiving wallet. Our guide on whether to choose ERC20 or Solana (https://aviorswap.com/blog/how-to-swap-crypto-to-usdt-erc20-or-solana) explains the difference. You can follow broad market prices on AviorSwap Markets (https://aviorswap.com/markets). Enter any amount in the swap form to see the live rate before you sign up. The live quote (https://aviorswap.com/swap?src=blog) needs no account.
The bottom line
The week's key times are Wednesday at 18:00 UTC for the Fed and Thursday at 12:30 UTC for US GDP and PCE, followed by the ECB at 13:15 UTC and Coinbase and Strategy results after the US close. Token unlocks run from Wednesday to Sunday, and the XRP escrow release and the US clock change land on November 1. Dates can move, so check the linked sources before you rely on any time.
Track market prices on AviorSwap Markets (https://aviorswap.com/markets). If you hold Bitcoin, here is how to swap BTC to USDT on Solana (https://aviorswap.com/blog/btc-to-usdt-solana-how-to-swap).
This article is for information only and is not financial or investment advice. Event dates and times come from the sources linked and may change. Crypto prices are volatile.