October has only just begun, and it is already living up to its nickname, Uptober. All prices are clearly in the green and the entire market is optimistic. Yet, last month was a little different. September is usually known for being a 'mediocre' month, as people brace themselves for Bitcoin's resurgence in October.

September Lays the Foundation for Bitcoin's Uptober

Bitcoin had a quiet start to September. The price started rising quite robustly after September 10th. This coincided with the day Charlie Kirk, a crypto advocate, was shot and killed. Within 24 hours, BTC had risen by approximately 1.5%, managing to once again break the $115,000 threshold. Expectations were high; would the coin now push through the $116,000 mark?

Federal Reserve Interest Rate Cut

The answer was yes, but shortly thereafter, the Federal Reserve's interest rate cut was announced. The Fed in the United States announced a reduction of 0.25 percentage points, from 4.25% to 4%, which means that banks have to pay less interest on their loans. This is typically passed on to customers. If the interest rate also falls for customers, their purchasing power increases and the economy is stimulated.  

It took the Fed nine months to make this crucial decision. They state that the US economy cooled down in the first half of this year. Growth is slowing, job growth is decreasing, and unemployment is slightly rising, although it remains low. Simultaneously, inflation has picked up again and remains relatively high. The outlook is uncertain and the risks to the labour market have increased. For that reason, the Fed is now opting for easing.

Effect on Bitcoin and the Crypto Market

The interest rate cut led to the expectation that many new investors would join the crypto market. This could lead to a greater inflow of new capital, allowing the market to grow. The opposite, however, seemed to happen.

On Monday, September 22nd, most crypto prices plummeted. Bitcoin dropped by 3 per cent from $115,400 to $112,000. For some analysts, this was a healthy retest of support, while others warned of a further decline towards $100,000.   

The altcoins, however, experienced larger losses. Ethereum, for example, crashed by 9 per cent. XRP fell by 3.8 per cent, ending up at €2.46. For both coins, this is a sharp pullback after a relatively quiet period. It was a red morning for the other coins too: Binance Coin dropped by 2.9%, Solana by 3.5%, and Dogecoin by nearly 7%. Other coins like Cardano and Chainlink lost 5%.

Uptober Starts Strong

Despite the dips, the Bitcoin price corrected again in the run-up to October. Historically, this month has always been the best month for Bitcoin, ending in the red only twice in the past fourteen years. However, no one saw it starting this well. It seemed to begin as the US government went into shutdown, but the fact that prices, even those of altcoins, continue to surge days later was on almost no one's bingo card. Expectations for the rest of the month are consequently only getting higher, although it remains a guess as to which direction the market will head when the US government returns.

How Does the Euro Stablecoin Work?

Last month, there was a major announcement from nine European banks, with the Dutch ING Bank as a pioneer. Together with UniCredit (Italy), CaixaBank (Spain), Danske Bank (Denmark), Raiffeisen Bank International (Austria), KBC (Belgium), SEB (Sweden), DekaBank (Germany) and Banca Sella (Italy), the bank intends to launch a euro stablecoin. With headquarters based in Amsterdam, the plan is for this digital currency to arrive by the end of 2026.

What Does a Euro Stablecoin Entail?

A euro stablecoin is a digital currency that is pegged one-to-one to the value of the euro. This means that 1 euro stablecoin is always worth approximately 1 euro. The goal is to combine the stability of a regular currency like the euro with the advantages of digital currencies.

The key difference between the euros in your bank account and a euro stablecoin lies in how transactions proceed. With bank euros, everything goes through the traditional, centralised banking system. Especially for international payments, it can take hours to days for a transaction to complete.

A euro stablecoin, however, resides on the blockchain. This makes transactions faster, more transparent, and often cheaper. But unlike fully decentralised stablecoins, this euro stablecoin remains under the management of the participating banks. You can use it directly for payments or to participate in applications within the crypto world, without first converting euros into other crypto.

Furthermore, the idea is that the system will be transparent and open. Blockchain transactions are traceable. Your regular euros are still managed by the bank, which is less 'open' and more vulnerable to what happens in the market.

What Are the Disadvantages?

As previously indicated, nine banks in the Eurozone plan to issue their own euro stablecoin. This means you can purchase such a stablecoin from one of these banks in exchange for one euro — probably slightly more, as banks usually charge a fee for this. As long as everyone trusts these banks, one of their stablecoins will maintain the same value as one euro. Transactions can subsequently be carried out much faster and cheaper.

Yet, there is an important condition attached to this stability: trust in the banks concerned. The banks must also continue to trust each other. As long as every party assigns the same value to the stablecoin, it can be exchanged everywhere. Experience shows that this trust does not always exist, and in times of financial stress, this trust can even disappear entirely.

Another disadvantage is that this stablecoin is not as decentralised as other stablecoins, as it remains under the management of these nine specific banks. Although the spokesperson for ING indicated that more banks will join, users remain entirely dependent on those specific banks and their rules.

These transactions will also likely be heavily regulated and monitored. Every payment can be linked to your identity. This can have advantages for oversight, but comes at the expense of privacy.

The euro stablecoin will have to comply with the MiCA rules. This can have both advantages and disadvantages: there is more transparency and consumer protection, but there is still a form of centralisation, limited freedom, and less room for innovation.

New Ethereum Upgrade: Fusaka

Ethereum is launching a major network upgrade soon. The so-called Fusaka update will be activated on the mainnet on 3 December 2025, following a systematic testing process that began in October last year. The update focuses on improvements to Ethereum's base layer, aiming to increase scalability, node efficiency, and data accessibility, without adding new user functions.

What will Fusaka Change?

An important part of Fusaka is the gradual expansion of blob capacity. A blob is a large block of extra data that can be stored with a transaction or block, but which does not have to be processed in the same way by all nodes directly. The idea is a kind of large, external storage location for transaction data or other information, which makes the chain more efficient.

Through two forks, the capacity will be gradually increased in phases from 6/9 blobs to ultimately 14/21 blobs. The process runs automatically during predetermined periods, ensuring the network expansion proceeds smoothly without major disruptions to existing applications.

Additionally, Fusaka introduces PeerDAS, allowing nodes to verify data by only retrieving small chunks of information, instead of downloading full blocks. This results in less storage and bandwidth usage and makes it easier to support Layer-2 solutions. Furthermore, the base fees for transactions with blobs are limited, making transaction costs more predictable. Simultaneously, this enhances the network's security and resistance to spam.

Fusaka is intended to make Ethereum better prepared for higher transaction loads and future Layer 2 expansions. Thanks to more efficient data processing and better accessibility, the network becomes more robust and appealing to smaller node operators. This update demonstrates that Ethereum remains committed to a secure, decentralised, and scalable blockchain, while promoting interoperability between different chains.

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice. Always consider conducting your own research and seeking professional advice before investing.