Institutional appetite faded fast. Spot Bitcoin ETFs in the US saw roughly $228 million of net withdrawals between October 12 and 16, following $681 million the week before, for a two-week total of $909 million. That is the biggest pullback since April. Price action matched the mood: Bitcoin slid under $82,000, with about $771 million in positions liquidated in a single day earlier in the week, then nearly $1 billion more on October 15 as Bitcoin, Ether, and XRP dropped together. BTC finished the week near $81,400.
TL;DR
- US spot Bitcoin ETFs lost $909 million over two weeks, the heaviest institutional selling since April, while nearly $1 billion in leveraged positions was wiped out on October 15.
- Charles Schwab opened Bitcoin and Ether trading to eligible clients even as an OCC review found all nine major US banks can cut crypto firms off.
- Europe elevated USDC to “significant” status under MiCA, leaving Tether on the outside.
- MSCI could drop Strategy and Metaplanet from its indexes by November 30.
Europe Crowns USDC, Leaves Tether Waiting
The European Banking Authority labeled Circle’s USDC the first “significant” e-money token under MiCA. Starting November 12, the stablecoin moves from national supervisors to direct EBA oversight, bringing tougher capital rules and stronger redemption duties. Circle pursued an EU license and secured one, whereas Tether’s USDT skipped the process and remains outside the framework. ESMA has also set a three-month window for EU platforms to unwind non-compliant stablecoin exposure, so exchanges serving the bloc face an obvious choice.
Schwab Welcomes Crypto While Big Banks Hold The Gate
Charles Schwab rolled out Schwab Crypto to all eligible US clients, offering Bitcoin and Ether at a 0.75% fee per trade. With around 35 million brokerage accounts, the move places crypto beside stocks and retirement savings in an app millions of Americans already use.
Yet the OCC found that all nine of the largest national banks have internal policies that let them restrict or deny services to digital-asset issuers, exchanges, and administrators. The review mandates nothing, but it puts the issue on the record and hands lawmakers and regulators documented grounds for action should de-banking persist.
MSCI approved criteria that could eject Strategy and Metaplanet from its equity benchmarks. The final roster arrives November 11, with any removals taking effect after the November 30 close. Passive funds tracking those benchmarks would then need to dump the shares. Both firms keep their valuations tied to Bitcoin held on their balance sheets, which sits awkwardly with how MSCI judges conventional businesses.
Policy Vacuum And A Perpetuals Push
Patrick Witt, the final adviser steering the White House digital assets office, has left with no successor named, just as the SEC, CFTC and OCC all juggle active crypto rulemakings.
Meanwhile, SEC Trading and Markets Director Jamie Selway said five CFTC-registered exchanges have applied to become security futures exchanges, and at least four could list securities perpetual futures before the year ends. Those no-expiry contracts on individual stocks or indexes are popular offshore but do not yet exist in regulated US form.
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