The Ethereum deposit staking contract has seen increased interest since developers announced that the Merge is likely to happen next month in September. This move to proof of stake will see miners be flushed out in favor of validators who earn rewards for staking their ETH, and more investors want to take advantage of this. This has seen Ethereum hit new milestones, while the most recent one has to do with the amount of ETH staked.
Staked ETH Crosses 13.3 Million
Staked ETH on the Ethereum network has now reached a new milestone of 13.3 million. This number has been a long time in the making and has recorded tremendous growth since the announcement about a month ago. The contract now sits at a whopping 13.308 million ETH now staked, rising with each passing day.
The total number of ETH now staked accounts for about 11% of the total supply. This means that 11% of Ethereum’s available supply has been rendered unmovable for the foreseeable future. As expected, this has had a big impact on the price since scarcity equals higher value. Ethereum had been able to cross $2,000 for the first time in more than 2 months.
The anticipation around the Merge has turned into a ‘buy the news’ event. More people are moving into the digital asset, given the promises held by Ethereum during this time. Add in the fact that withdrawals are not expected to come to the network until 6 months to 1 year after the Merge, the reduced market supply will continue to pump the price.
Ethereum Investors Strap In
An important byproduct of the announcement that the Merge is coming in September has been the accumulation trend that has been triggered. An example is the number of addresses holding at least 10,000 ETH, hitting a new 1-month high of 1,186. The same trend was seen in smaller investors holding at least 10 coins that touched a new all-time high of 313,562 wallet addresses.
In the early hours of Monday, Wu Blockchain reported that a long-dormant Ethereum wallet had been activated. This wallet which had a balance of 145,000 ETH, was said to be active during the ICO era of the network, garnering a total of 150,000 ETH during this time.
When the price of ETH hit $219 back in 2019, the owner of the wallet had made a single transaction o 5,000 ETH but had not had any other activity since then. The wallet has since gone on to transfer out 145,000 ETH to multiple wallets since its reactivation.
These trends are becoming more common as the Merge draws closer. Mostly, as investors buy the news, the price of ETH is on a dramatic rise. However, as has been seen in the past, it is expected that the price of ETH will likely decline after the Merge.
Featured image from Greek Reporter, chart from TradingView.com
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