Ethereum also posted losses, shedding 0.69% to $1,580 during the last 24 hours and 3.27% on the week

Bitcoin continued to decline in Monday afternoon trade in Asia, along with Ether and all other leading non-stablecoin cryptos, except Tron. Toncoin was the biggest loser. Global crypto currency markets declined after the U.S. Fed at its September meeting signalled another interest rate hike by the end of the year, hinting that rates will stay higher for longer than expected.

Bitcoin shed 1.44% to $26,182 in 24 hours to 4 p.m. in Hong Kong, bringing its weekly losses to 2%, as per CoinMarketCap data. The token was hovering above $26,500 over the weekend but lost the support level early Monday morning.

Ethereum also posted losses, shedding 0.69% to $1,580 during the last 24 hours and 3.27% on the week. The world’s second biggest crypto currency dropped below the $1,600 support level for the first time since Thursday.

EIP-4844, also known as the Ethereum Cancun Upgrade, is a proposed Ethereum upgrade that intends to improve the speed and cost-effectiveness of the Ethereum network.

The average fee on the Ethereum blockchain declined to nearly $1.15 per transaction on Saturday, the lowest level since December 2022, as per blockchain intelligence firm Santiment.

Ethereum generated $17.9 million in fees last week, the lowest since December 26. Fees have peaked out in May 2023 and are gradually dropping, this continues to be a key development for Ether prices. With less than one week left in September, fees are (so far) 50% less than in August, Markus Thielen, head of research and strategy at Matrixport, wrote on Monday.

We mostly worry about Ethereum as weak fundamentals plus a lack of hype around the EIP-4844 upgrade (which should come sometime in Q4 2023) could make the blockchain slowly outdated. Holders do not have unlimited restraint and these upgrades are not quick enough and are marginal, he said.