Crypto Monthly Recap October 2026: Hacks, Prices, Outlook

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The crypto market lost about 9 percent of its value in October 2026: total market capitalization fell from $2.86 trillion on 1 October to $2.60 trillion on 1 November. Bitcoin ended the month 7.3 percent lower at $77,441, Ether lost 16.1 percent, and of the 20 largest coins excluding stablecoins only Monero and LEO gained. The month was shaped by the Binance hack on 29 October with about $6.3 billion stolen, rising rate expectations in the US and a shift in sentiment from greed to fear, according to CoinMarketCap and DefiLlama data as of 1 November 2026. Here is October by the numbers, with the events that mattered, the hack tally and the outlook for November.

Crypto monthly recap October 2026: key points

Total market: $2.60 trillion, −9.1% in October; Bitcoin dominance up from 58.6% to 59.8%.
Bitcoin: $77,441, −7.3%; October high of $86,513 on 5 October.
Winners: Monero +9.9%, LEO +4.1%; 18 of the 20 largest coins fell.
Losers: Stellar −25.1%, Canton −22.5%, Cardano −21.8%.
Hacks: 35 incidents with $6.50 billion in losses, $6.36 billion of it at Binance.
Sentiment: Fear and Greed Index down from 69 (greed) on 1 October to 36 (fear) on 31 October.

The crypto market in October 2026 by the numbers

The key figures of the month, measured from 1 October to 1 November. Market data and sentiment from CoinMarketCap, DeFi and stablecoins from DefiLlama:

Three things stand out. First, Bitcoin held up better than the rest: dominance rose to 59.8 percent because 15 of the other 19 large coins fell harder. Second, capital left DeFi, with total value locked down by just over $10 billion. Third, the stablecoin supply shrank by $7.5 billion, and that is the money waiting on the sidelines to buy crypto. You can follow all of these metrics daily in our crypto insights.

Winners and losers in October 2026

Only two of the 20 largest cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins finished October higher: the privacy coin Monero with 9.9 percent and LEO, the token of the Bitfinex exchange, with 4.1 percent. Hyperliquid held up best among the losers at −3.3 percent. The biggest drops came from Stellar (−25.1%), Canton (−22.5%), Cardano (−21.8%) and Avalanche (−21.7%). Ether lost 16.1 percent, more than twice as much as Bitcoin, and Solana 19.2 percent.

The pattern is typical of a month full of shocks: investors retreat into Bitcoin, and altcoins without much demand of their own fall two or three times as hard. Monero was already among the winners in the last week of October, as our crypto weekly recap for week 44 shows. To see what October did to your own portfolio, the tools in our crypto tax software comparison track gains and losses for every coin.

Bitcoin in October 2026: a second losing October in a row

Bitcoin entered October at $83,566, stood highest at $86,513 on 5 October and lowest at $77,202 on 31 October. That makes October, known as "Uptober", a losing month for the second year running. Since 2018, six of eight Octobers had ended in the green for Bitcoin, as our October track record shows. The two big drops came on 8 October, when rate fears and $1.16 billion in liquidations briefly pushed the price below $81,000, and after the Binance hack on 29 October.

The events of crypto October 2026

8 October, markets: Fed rate fears, liquidations and ETF outflows hit Bitcoin, Ether and Solana; the reasons are in crypto crash reason.
8 October, Germany: The German Bundestag rejected a bill to abolish the one-year tax holding period for crypto by 445 votes to 132; details in our report on the Bundestag vote.
9 October, Ledger: Tampered devices sold by the reseller CryptoBilis drained coins from Ledger wallets, DefiLlama lists the case at $93 million; what affected users can do is in our report on the Ledger supply chain attack.
28 October, Fed: The US central bank held rates at 3.75 to 4.00 percent, while Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack voted for a hike, as CNN reported.
29 October, Binance: From 20:05 UTC attackers drained about $6.3 billion; TRM Labs and Chainalysis attribute the attack to the North Korean group TraderTraitor. Binance suspended deposits and withdrawals and pledged to cover all losses.
30 October, Wall Street: Intel fell 28.6 percent, Reddit 29.2 percent and the Nasdaq 2.86 percent; more in stock market crash: US stocks trade like meme tokens.

Crypto hacks in October 2026: 35 incidents, $6.5 billion

The DefiLlama hacks database counts 35 attacks with a combined $6.50 billion in losses for October 2026, as of 1 November. Binance alone accounts for $6.36 billion; without it, $136 million remain, less than the $743 million across 37 incidents in September. From January to October 2026 the database lists 325 incidents worth $8.74 billion, compared with 148 incidents and $2.72 billion in the whole of 2025. Why almost all of the damage came through keys and infrastructure rather than flawed smart contracts is explained in our analysis October's hacks hit infrastructure, not code. We track every case in our crypto hacks and security section.

Name.com: attacking the address instead of the code

On 30 and 31 October, attackers hijacked 15 customer domains at the registrar Name.com, including at least 12 websites of DeFi projects such as Flap and Kintsu. Anyone who opened the familiar address landed on a copy running the "Step Drainer" wallet drainer, which tricks users into approvals and empties wallets. Losses are estimated at about $138,000, according to Crypto Briefing, and the projects' smart contracts were not affected. Name.com has restored the domains and advises customers to review their DNS settings and turn on two-factor authentication. How the attackers got into the registrar is still unknown. The lesson: even a site you have used for years can be a trap for a few hours.

How to protect yourself from hijacked DeFi sites

Bookmarks instead of search: open DeFi sites from a saved bookmark, not from search results, ads or links in chats.
Read every signature: if a site you know suddenly asks for an unlimited approval or several signatures in a row, stop.
Take wallet warnings seriously: wallets such as MetaMask simulate transactions before you sign and flag known drainers.
Revoke old approvals: check regularly which contracts can still access your tokens, for example with Revoke.cash, and remove what you no longer need.
Split your holdings: keep larger amounts on a hardware wallet that shows every transaction in plain text, and use a separate wallet with a small balance for DeFi.

The right devices for that are compared in our hardware wallet comparison.

Sentiment in October 2026: from greed to fear

CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index started October at 69, in greed territory, and reached its monthly high of 70 on 4 October. From 7 October sentiment turned, mid-month the index hovered around the neutral 50, and after the Binance hack it fell to 36, in fear territory, on 30 October. That is where it stood at the end of the month. The daily reading is in our Fear and Greed Index chart.

Outlook for November 2026: dates, scenarios, warning signs

Tuesday, 3 November: Binance estimates it will publish its full proof of reserves by this day; the US also votes in the midterms, and what that means for crypto is in midterm elections 2026: what they mean for Bitcoin.
Friday, 6 November: US jobs report for October, a key input for the Fed's December decision.
December: At the end of October, futures markets priced a Fed rate hike at about 80 percent; the background is in Fed rate hike in December priced in.

Where the major coins stand after October is shown by the three scenarios on our prediction pages for the end of 2026. They project the price on 1 January 2026 forward at fixed annual rates and are models, not price targets:

Despite a weak October, Bitcoin, Ether and XRP sit above the middle of their range, while Solana is well below it and only 16 percent above its bearish scenario. What ten years of monthly returns suggest for November is in our analysis Bitcoin in November.

Warning signs to watch in November

Less liquidity: the stablecoin supply fell by $7.5 billion in October. If it does not recover in November, the buying power for a rebound is missing.
Weak breadth: 18 of the 20 largest coins fell and Bitcoin dominance rose to 59.8 percent. Altcoins remain vulnerable as long as money flees into Bitcoin.
Interest rates: a Fed hike in December would make loans and leverage more expensive, and a strong jobs report on 6 November would make it more likely.
Stolen coins: part of the Binance loot still sits in the attackers' wallets; our analysis of the 195,000 ETH held by the Binance hacker shows why that can mean selling pressure.

Our take: October 2026 was a weak but orderly month for Bitcoin and a hard one for altcoins and DeFi. Sentiment is in fear, liquidity is shrinking, and higher rates are priced in. Good news from Binance on 3 November and a softer jobs report on 6 November are the two triggers that could ease the pressure. The next monthly recap with all the November figures follows in early December on CryptoTicker. This article is not investment advice.

FAQ: the crypto month of October 2026

Bitcoin fell 7.3 percent in October 2026, from $83,566 to $77,441, according to CoinMarketCap from 1 October to 1 November. Its highest level was $86,513 on 5 October. It was the second October in a row with a loss.

Among the 20 largest cryptocurrencies excluding stablecoins, Monero gained the most with 9.9 percent, followed by LEO with 4.1 percent. All others fell, Stellar the most with 25.1 percent.

The DefiLlama hacks database counts 35 incidents with a combined $6.50 billion in losses for October 2026, as of 1 November. The Binance hack on 29 October accounts for $6.36 billion; the other 34 incidents add up to $136 million.

CoinMarketCap's Fear and Greed Index fell from 69, in greed territory, on 1 October to 36, in fear territory, on 30 and 31 October. Rate fears and the Binance hack drove the shift.

Transparency note: This article was produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and reviewed by our editorial team before publication. All figures and claims were checked against the primary sources linked in the text. The feature image was generated with AI.

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