Hedera (HBAR) v0.66 lands as developers double down on AI and agents

Tatevik Avetisyan
By Tatevik Avetisyan 7 Min Read
Hedera (HBAR) v0.66 lands as developers double down on AI and agents

Hedera scheduled its mainnet upgrade to v0.66 for 17:00 UTC on Oct 9 after canceling an earlier Oct 8 slot due to a technical issue. The status hub set a 40-minute window and warned of brief service disruption during the process.

The notice confirmed the timing and described the upgrade as a routine step with limited impact. It also documented the change from the Oct 8 plan to the Oct 9 slot. Therefore, posts and calendars that pointed to the maintenance window aligned with the official channel.

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Release notes for v0.66 continue to anchor the context around the update cadence. They list testnet and mainnet scheduling and summarize the feature set shipped across recent releases. This keeps operators and developers aligned on timing and scope.

Harmon speaks on banking and stablecoins at NABS (Dallas)

Hedera co-founder Mance Harmon appears on the “The New Financial Rails: Banking and Stablecoins” panel at the North American Blockchain Summit. The Hedera events page lists the engagement for Oct 9–10 in Dallas, Texas.

The NABS public agenda shows the session slot with the moderator and named panelists. This places Hedera’s leadership inside a program focused on policy, infrastructure, and enterprise rails. The agenda timing helps teams plan coverage and social posts.

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Moreover, the placement aligns with Hedera’s broader push into institutional use cases. It keeps the discussion on payments and stablecoin connectivity on a stage with regulators and industry operators. Consequently, it adds a real-world backdrop to this week’s upgrade cycle.

Developer highlights emphasize AI Studio and agent workflows

Hedera’s September Developer Highlights went live on Oct 2. The post outlines updates to AI Studio and the Agent Kit, plus recent hackathon outcomes. It serves as a concise entry point for builders returning after the upgrade.

In parallel, the Medium recap walks through AI and agent projects, DeFi and tokenization experiments, and tooling improvements. Teams can use these examples to map patterns into production work. The article consolidates links to code and demos.

Additionally, the developer channels amplified the roundup and deeper AI Studio notes. This keeps the pipeline of tutorials and architecture breakdowns visible in one stream for builders. It also ties back to the release cadence.

Hedera Developer Highlights September 2025. Source: Hedera for Developers on X
Hedera Developer Highlights September 2025. Source: Hedera for Developers on X

Roadmap context: batch transactions and workflow design

Hedera’s public roadmap continues to feature batch transactions (HIP-551). The item describes rolling dependent operations into one ACID-compliant transaction to simplify complex workflows without smart contracts.

The HIP-551 specification provides the technical foundation for the feature. It explains how multiple HAPI calls can land atomically. Therefore, developers can design multi-step flows with fewer failure points.

Roadmap and HIP pages together frame how recent releases improve durability and throughput for application logic. As upgrade notes publish and features land, these references help teams plan migrations and tests. Consequently, they remain useful touchstones alongside the v0.66 window.

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Analyst says “alt season” is over and warns of a selloff

Crypto commentator COSMIC claimed that “ALT Season already happened” and argued the next phase is a market selloff, adding that HBAR could drop below ten cents. The post included the Altcoin Season Index, which showed a reading of 59 with the banner “It is not Altcoin Season.” The index aggregates performance across large altcoins versus Bitcoin over a set period to signal whether altcoins broadly outperform.

Altcoin Season Index. Source: Blockchain Center
                      Altcoin Season Index. Source: Blockchain Center

However, a score in the high 50s sits near the middle of the gauge and does not confirm an altcoin-dominant cycle by the site’s own definition. It instead suggests mixed momentum, where some altcoins lead while others lag. Therefore, COSMIC’s statement frames a directional view rather than a formal signal from the indicator.

Context matters for readers tracking HBAR. The call implies that capital may rotate away from altcoins toward Bitcoin or cash if risk appetite fades. In practice, traders would expect lower liquidity, faster intraday swings, and wider spreads across pairs. Consequently, any decisive move would likely show up first in market breadth and volume before prices settle into new ranges.

The takeaway is straightforward: COSMIC is flagging a potential regime shift using the Altcoin Season Index as context, not confirmation. Observers can watch breadth metrics, Bitcoin dominance, and flows to see whether a broad selloff actually takes hold next.

HBAR RSI chart shows weak momentum with no clear breakout

The HBAR daily RSI chart indicates subdued momentum as of October 10, 2025. The 14-day Relative Strength Index sits near 45, just under the moving average line, which is around 45.3. This position places the RSI in the neutral zone, signaling neither strong bullish nor bearish pressure.

HBAR RSI Daily ChartSource: TradingView
HBAR RSI Daily Chart. Source: TradingView

Since early July, the RSI curve has trended downward from overbought territory, where it briefly spiked above 70. The subsequent decline shows that buying strength has weakened over time. Attempts to recover in late August and mid-September failed to break above 60, which points to fading upside momentum.

The moving average of the RSI remains slightly above the current reading, reflecting short-term softness. Unless the RSI crosses above the moving average with sustained strength, the setup suggests consolidation or mild downward bias rather than a decisive trend shift.

Tatevik Crypto Journalist CoinChapter

Tatevik Avetisyan

Tatev Avetisyan is a Markets Writer and Analyst at CoinChapter, covering cryptocurrency markets, policy, and regulation. With over seven years of experience in business and marketing development, she has spent the past two years specializing in digital assets and has authored more than 2,000 articles on crypto markets and regulatory developments.She contributes as a guest writer to leading industry publications and is a prominent Web3 advocate in Armenia through Web3Armenia. Her work reflects a broader focus on artificial intelligence and Web3 technologies. Tatev maintains a diversified crypto portfolio, with Bitcoin as her primary holding above CoinChapter’s $1,000 disclosure threshold.