October 2025 Blockchain Update: Etherfuse Onchain Currencies & Stellar Upgrade

What shipped

In the world of blockchain and digital currencies, October 2025 has brought some exciting developments, especially with projects like Ripple, Stellar, Hedera, Flare Network, and XDC Network making headlines. Here’s a simple breakdown of the key updates:

Etherfuse project: Aiming to bring 100 sovereign currencies onchain, Etherfuse plans to digitize many national currencies, making cross-border payments faster and cheaper. This initiative was recently covered in a Stellar blog podcast.
Stellar Protocol 24 Upgrade: Stellar completed an important upgrade to its protocol, improving network efficiency and security. This update helps the platform handle more transactions smoothly, which is great news for users and developers.
Stellar i³ Awards 2025: Stellar recognized innovative projects and builders in its ecosystem, encouraging more creativity and adoption of blockchain technology.
Chainlink achievements: Chainlink, a popular decentralized oracle network, published its Q3 2025 review highlighting growth and was selected as the winner of the Swift Hackathon 2025 Business Challenge. They also introduced DataLink, a new service to bring institutional market data directly onchain, enhancing transparency and trust.
Polymarket token launch: Polymarket, a decentralized prediction market platform, announced plans to launch its token and conduct an airdrop after relaunching in the U.S., signaling growth and renewed interest in prediction markets.
Market movements: Stellar’s XLM token showed strong activity with a recent breakout and surge in trading volume, hinting at growing institutional interest. On the other hand, Hedera’s HBAR token experienced a slight price drop as some support levels weakened.

Why it matters

These updates highlight how blockchain projects continue to evolve, focusing on real-world use cases and improving technology for better performance. Bringing sovereign currencies onchain, as Etherfuse aims to do, could revolutionize how we send money internationally. Instead of relying on slow and costly traditional banking systems, people and businesses could use blockchain networks to transfer funds quickly and at a lower cost.

Stellar’s protocol upgrade and ecosystem awards reflect how the project is committed to enhancing its platform and supporting developers who build useful applications. This is crucial because a strong developer community often leads to more innovations and practical tools for users.

Chainlink’s progress in providing reliable data to smart contracts is important because smart contracts—self-executing agreements coded on blockchains—need accurate real-world information to function correctly. DataLink helps ensure that institutional data, like market prices and financial reports, can be trusted and used directly on the blockchain.

Polymarket’s token launch indicates the growing interest in decentralized finance (DeFi) and prediction markets, where users can speculate on future events in a transparent and decentralized way. This adds a new layer of engagement and utility for blockchain users.

Finally, the recent price movements in tokens like Stellar’s XLM and Hedera’s HBAR show how market dynamics reflect broader trends such as institutional adoption and technical support levels. For investors, these signals can provide clues about potential future growth or caution.

Builders’ corner

If you’re interested in building or exploring blockchain projects, here are some takeaways from these updates:

Explore Stellar’s latest protocol: The Protocol 24 upgrade improves transaction speed and security. Developers can take advantage of these improvements to create faster and more reliable apps.
Consider integrating Chainlink DataLink: If your project needs trustworthy real-world data, Chainlink’s new service can help bring institutional-grade information onchain.
Look into Etherfuse’s currency onchain model: Digitizing sovereign currencies can open up new opportunities in payments and finance. Learning how this works might inspire your own projects.
Watch Polymarket’s token launch: For those interested in prediction markets or DeFi, Polymarket’s relaunch and token distribution could offer insights into user engagement and tokenomics.
Follow Stellar’s ecosystem growth: The i³ Awards showcase innovative projects—joining or learning from this community can boost your blockchain knowledge and network.

Quick prices (October 24, 2025)

Bitcoin (BTC): $110,264 (up 0.24% in 24h)
Ethereum (ETH): $3,888 (down 0.14% in 24h)
Ripple (XRP): $2.48 (up 2.87% in 24h)
Stellar (XLM): $0.31 (up 0.36% in 24h)
Hedera (HBAR): $0.17 (up 1.62% in 24h but recently down as support levels weaken)
Flare Network (FLR): $0.017 (up 0.06% in 24h)
XDC Network (XDC): $0.062 (down 0.25% in 24h)

What to watch

Looking ahead, here are some areas to keep an eye on:

Adoption of sovereign currencies onchain: If Etherfuse’s vision succeeds, we might see a wave of new digital national currencies, changing how money moves globally.
Stellar’s protocol upgrades and ecosystem growth: Continued improvements and support for developers could make Stellar a go-to platform for financial applications.
Chainlink’s role in decentralized finance: As more projects require reliable real-world data, Chainlink’s DataLink and other services could become even more vital.
Polymarket’s performance post-token launch: Watch how the prediction market evolves and whether the token attracts active users and liquidity.
Market trends in key tokens: Ripple’s strong price increase and Stellar’s volume surge hint at growing institutional interest, which could drive further price action.

TL;DR: October 2025 brings exciting blockchain news: Etherfuse aims to digitize 100 national currencies, Stellar upgrades its protocol and celebrates innovation with its i³ Awards, Chainlink strengthens its data services, and Polymarket prepares for a U.S. relaunch with a new token. Market prices show optimism, especially for Ripple and Stellar, signaling growing institutional interest. These developments highlight how blockchain is becoming more practical, accessible, and integrated with real-world finance.

Sources

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October 2025 Blockchain Update: Etherfuse Onchain Currencies & Stellar Upgrade