The hype around Ethereum 2.0’s launch is pretty hot at the moment. It can be seen from the enormous amount of ETH staked in the upcoming proof-of-stake network’s deposit contract. Data shows a balance that is upwards of 853,000 Ether (worth more than $500 million) in the Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract.
Ethereum blockchain activity tracking website etherscan.io has been keeping a record of all Ethereum 2.0 developments since the test net launch. According to the latest data, depositors have staked more than $510 million worth of ETH (853,248 ETH and counting) in the ETH2 deposit contract.
ETH stakes crossed the 524,288 deposit threshold last week itself, with the cryptocurrency’s price rallying past $600. But even after that funds are pouring in at a record pace with this week logging a whopping 63 percent jump in deposits over the last week.
Confidence in Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work (PoW) based consensus mechanism to a proof-of-stake (PoS) is very high. Although, investors seem more interested in the yield earnings from ETH their staking deposits.
Generous million-dollar deposits (obviously in ETH) from the likes of Dubai-based IBC Group and other Ethereum whales have made the launch Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0 tomorrow near-inevitable.
What’s even more interesting is that the original Ethereum network now has more nodes than the Bitcoin network.
As more and more ETH gets vanished from the version 1 chain and appears on the version 2 chain, the dwindling supply and accelerated buying behavior to participate in the Ethereum 2.0 staking mania has caused prices to spike again.
The ETHUSD trading pair is trading above the $600 price mark. Last week’s rally above $600 coincided with ETH deposits fulfilling the staking threshold and even exceeding it. The exponentially rising confidence in Ethereum 2.0’s launch has trickled into this week as well, despite the egregious market bloodbath last weekend.
This has again resulted in ETH’s smoldering rally to $600. Folks are even calling for a run-up to $1000.
Apart from ETH’s liftoff and rally beyond the $600 price mark and the explosively rising deposits to make Ethereum 2.0 a reality, the DeFi space hasn’t stayed behind either. After the crash last weekend, the total USD locked has jumped from below $13 billion to $14.2 billion.
Maker, Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Compound, Aave, Uniswap are top 5 protocols that are attracting the maximum funds but part from them, inflows are net positive across the board.
Overall it looks like a grand Ethereum party. Will ETH prices surpass the 2017 highs in this rally? That still remains to be seen.
