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Ethereum Beacon Chain Sees Over $2 Billion Worth of ETH Withdrawn in Four Days

by Blockchain NewsApril 17, 2023

Ethereum’s Beacon Chain has been making headlines as over 1 million ETH worth $2.1 billion has been withdrawn from it in the first four days of the Shapella hard fork. This has resulted in Ether’s price rising above $2,100 for the first time in 11 months. According to data from beaconcha.in, the withdrawals have come from 473,7000 withdrawal requests, with Saturday, April 15, marking the largest withdrawal day at 392,800 ETH.

As of now, nearly 87% or 469,000 out of 540,000 active validators are able to withdraw their staked Ether. The Shapella hard fork has been a topic of debate within the Ethereum community as many were uncertain about its impact on ETH’s price. However, the first four days have produced close to a 10% rise, indicating that the hard fork has been beneficial for Ether’s price.

According to experts, much of the stake that has been withdrawn over the last few days is actually going straight back into the Beacon Chain as validators are looking to compound their interest. So much so that net stake is currently increasing. This means that the withdrawn stake is being reinvested in the Beacon Chain to earn interest on it, rather than being sold off in the market.

The current macroeconomic climate has also played a role in the withdrawals. Many early stakers wanted to liquidate their stake after waiting nearly 30 months for some. The withdrawals have allowed them to finally reap the benefits of their investments. The reinvestment of the withdrawn stake in the Beacon Chain also indicates that investors are confident in the platform’s future and are looking to earn long-term returns.

The Beacon Chain is an important component of Ethereum’s transition to a Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm. It is currently running parallel to the existing Proof of Work (PoW) chain and will eventually replace it. The PoS algorithm is expected to reduce the energy consumption required for mining and increase the efficiency of the network. With the success of the Beacon Chain withdrawals, the transition to PoS is looking more promising than ever before.

In conclusion, the Beacon Chain’s recent success with over $2 billion worth of ETH withdrawn in just four days is a positive sign for Ethereum’s future. The reinvestment of the withdrawn stake in the platform is a strong indication of investor confidence in the long-term potential of the network. The transition to a PoS consensus algorithm is also looking more promising than ever before, and with the current macroeconomic climate, the future looks bright for Ethereum.

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Ethereum 2.0: Upcoming Upgrade Will Not Eradicate High Gas Fees

by Blockchain NewsAugust 18, 2022

The growing anticipation of the Merge of the Ethereum network’s Beacon Chain with the current Proof-of-Work (PoW) mainnet to usher in the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) version of the protocol has generated a number of misconceptions from the public.

The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has come out to debunk some of these misconceptions, one of which is relative to the issue of gas fees.

The EF said the emergence of Ethereum 2.0 will not be a panacea for lower gas fees as the upgrade is a change of consensus mechanism, not an expansion of network capacity, and will not result in lower gas fees.

“Gas fees are a product of network demand relative to the network’s capacity. The Merge deprecates the use of proof-of-work, transitioning to proof-of-stake for consensus, but does not significantly change any parameters that directly influence network capacity or throughput,” the EF said.

The foundation said future rollup technology upgrades are projected to help taper down the high gas fees. Ethereum’s co-founder, Vitalik Buterin, has also supported the push of Layer-2 rollups in pushing down the higher gas fees to accepted levels.

Besides the clamour on gas fees, the misconception about the Merge ushering in faster transactions was also corrected. According to the Ethereum Foundation, while there is a slight change in the transaction speed on the Beacon Chain and the PoW network, the chances that the speed of transactions on the Layer-1 protocol will largely remain the same.

The Beacon Chain went live back in December 2020 and has been running parallel with the Ethereum mainnet since then. A lot of debugging has been done since the development of Ethereum 2.0 was made public. With so much work now being put into The Merge, the anticipation for the proposed launch is now being directed to September 15 – 19 – the tentative date.

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Tagged : Beacon Chain / Ethereum / Ethereum 2.0 / GASFEES

Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract Hits ATH as Investments Heightens

by Blockchain NewsJune 5, 2022

More investments continue trickling into Ethereum 2.0 deposit contract, given that the number of staked ETH is scaling the heights.

Market insight provider Glassnode explained:

”Total value in the ETH 2.0 deposit contract just reached an ATH of 12,777,045 ETH.”

Source: Glassnode

Ethereum 2.0, or the Beacon Chain, which was recently renamed the consensus layer, was launched in December 2020 and was regarded as a game-changer that sought to transit the current Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism to a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) framework.

The transition from a POW to a PoS consensus mechanism called the merge is speculated to be the biggest software upgrade in the Ethereum ecosystem and the proof-of-stake algorithm will allow the confirmation of blocks in a more energy-efficient way.

Therefore, validators will stake Ether instead of solving a cryptographic puzzle.

The number of validators is also edging closer to the 400k mark. Glassnode acknowledged:

“Over 12.764M ETH has been staked by 398k unique validators. This is 10.73% of the circulating supply. Since 1-May, 19.8k additional validators have come online and staked.”

Ethereum researcher Justin Drake recently disclosed that the merge was expected in August because testing was in the final stages.

The merge is usually regarded as a game-changer that will give the Ethereum network a new face because it is expected to enhance scalability through upgrades like sharding.

Furthermore, it is anticipated to strengthen Ethereum’s quest as a deflationary asset because the second-largest cryptocurrency’s value is speculated to increase based on slashed supply.

Meanwhile, Arthur Hayes, the ex-CEO of crypto exchange BitMEX, commented that Ethereum is on its way to $10,000 by the end of the year because the merge will be the tipping point, putting the second-largest currency ahead of the game.

Hayes pointed out that the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism will make Ethereum a “currency bond” or commodity-based compared to Bitcoin.

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Tagged : Beacon Chain / Ethereum / Ethereum 2.0 / Staking / The Merge

Total Value Locked in Ethereum 2.0 Deposit Contract Reaches a New All-Time High of $6.5 Billion

by Blockchain NewsMarch 10, 2021

Ethereum is retracing back from some of the accrued gains it acquired at the beginning of the week, dropping by 2.30% to trade at $1,803.97 at the time of writing, according to CoinMarketCap.

This price correction which in part is a response to the short-term sell-offs from market bears comes amid a growing valuation of the total value of the assets locked in the Ethereum 2.0 contract address.

Per the figures pulled from Glassnode, an analytics platform, the total value of locked assets in the Ethereum 2.0 deposit smart contract just reached an ATH of $6,467,550,120.47, surpassing the ATH of $6,442,945,942.67 was observed on 20 February 2021.

The Ethereum blockchain is one of the most troubled networks out there today with the challenge of high fees remarkably pushing users off to other competing networks like the Binance Smart Chain. The Ethereum Foundation has been in a constant search for a final solution to these high gas fees to the benefit and relief of over 3,000 decentralized applications that have made the network the foundation.

The roll-out of Ethereum 2.0 is one of the ways it is looking to achieve this. ETH 2.0 is a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) model that will offer scalability at a relatively low cost as the process of verifying transactions will shift from the miners to network validators – those staking Ether that is pushing the Ethereum 2.0 ambition towards reality.

Price falls or corrections are unavoidable in the crypto space, but the constant increment in the deposited value in Ethereum 2.0 is an indication that the true market bulls are unmoved by the fleeting price drops and have trust in the future prospects of the Ethereum network, especially when the PoS network will be fully operational.

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Tagged : Beacon Chain / Ethereum / Ethereum 2.0

Total Value of Ethereum in ETH 2.0 Tops 3 Million Ether

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 10, 2021

The total value of Ethereum locked in Ethereum 2.0 tops 3 million Ether and currently pegged at 3,000,034 ETH according to Glassnode. Ethereum 2.0 is an upgraded version of the Ethereum network which aims to switch the network from its current Proof-of-Work (PoW) algorithm to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus.

The PoS system is arguably more scalable and more efficient than the PoW system and instead of mining which helps validate transactions in the latter, staking is being employed in the former. To participate in the staking, for which a defined return in the equivalent asset terms is earned, uses must lock in their assets, which in this scenario is Ethereum.

The Ethereum 2.0 staking milestone initially has aided the successful launch of the new network’s Beacon Chain, and the continuous growth of staked Ethereum signifies a considerable trust in the potentials of the new system incoming.

The Rise in Staked Ethereums Comes Amid New All-Time High Milestone

The rise in the total number of Ethereum staked in Ethereum 2.0 coincides with the rise in the price of Ethereum to a new all-time high (ATH). As reported earlier, Ethereum is currently seeing a massive bullish run, which has stirred its price at an ATH above $1,800 for the first time.

The valuation of the Ethereum network, in general, has been consistent all year long, a momentum that was sustained from last year. Ethereum is gaining traction, second only after Bitcoin with institutional interests brewing up.

The latest run-in price was arguably fueled by its listing on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) as well as a jump in the price of Bitcoin (BTC). As a largely emerging asset class, Ethereum has a big future for more growth, the network developers believe this growth can best be secured by a switch to Ethereum 2.0, an adventure that is clearly moving in the right direction.

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Tagged : Beacon Chain / ETH 2.0 / Ethereum

Ethereum Mining Difficulty Has Reached an ATH

by Blockchain NewsFebruary 1, 2021

Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization has attained a new mining difficulty all-time high of 4,745,167,085,193,270 according to Glassnode’s on-chain data. The Ethereum mining difficulty is a measure of how many hashes in statistical terms must be generated to find a valid solution to solve the next Ethereum block and earn the mining reward.

The new all-time high figure depicts the number of hashes, the combined number of miners must attain to get the reward for an Ethereum block. With these, the Ethereum Network also trails the technical design of Bitcoin (BTC) in relation to periodical increment in the mining difficulty to bring in the perfect supply bottleneck to engender increased valuation over time.

Ethereum Mining Difficulty Amidst All-time High and Beacon Chain Launch

Ethereum has been experiencing significant milestones in the past days as this all-time high figure in the mining difficulty comes days after the price of Ethereum continues to show prospects of ballooning in a bid to beat its $1,460 all-time highs.

The new mining difficulty will all but help the Ethereum network maintain its relevance over time as the difficulty level will invariably make mining less attractive to the miners. This particular factor is poised to push the miners to switch to the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) system Ethereum is aiming to migrate to through the launch of its Beacon Chain.

Ethereum is at a crucial stage in its history, as the network aims to consolidate on all fronts especially in maintaining its relevance amidst the transition to the new PoS system. The anticipation of the new system dubbed Ethereum 2.0 has already spelled good omens for Ethereum, both in terms of valuation and positive sentiments in relation to the capability of the new system to support the growing hoard of decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.

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Tagged : Beacon Chain / DeFi / Ethereum / Mining Difficulty

MyEtherWallet Now Offers In-App Staking for Ethereum 2.0

by CoindeskDecember 8, 2020

One of Ethereum’s most popular software wallets, MyEtherWallet, is giving users access to Ethereum 2.0 staking.

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Tagged : All News / Beacon Chain / Ethereum / Ethereum 2.0 / Myetherwallet / Staked / TECH / Users

Vitalik Buterin Explains What’s Next for Ethereum after the ETH 2.0 Beacon Chain Launch

by Blockchain NewsDecember 3, 2020

Ethereum 2.0 Phase 0, also known as the blockchain’s Beacon chain, was launched on Dec. 1. The launch of Ethereum 2.0 has introduced a new consensus mechanism to the network—proof-of-stake.

Ethereum 2.0 has been divided into phases, with Phase 0 enabling the staking function of the project. Phase 1 enables the sharding of data, which would enhance scalability and increasing the storage capabilities of the network. Phase 2 enables thousands of transactions per second, as well as transaction sharding.

In March 2020, the co-founder of Ethereum Vitalik Buterin emphasized that research and development on the network were to continue despite challenges faced. He added that upcoming changes would address the issues noted at the time. He said:

“In general, over the last ~2 years there has been a solid shift from “blue sky” research, trying to understand what is possible, to concrete research and development, trying to optimize specific primitives that we know are implementable and implement them.”

The co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin has recently published a new roadmap of the next steps for ETH, and what is next for the network. One major change that was noted in the new roadmap is that the three steps can be worked on in parallel, instead of grouping them into different stages. Buterin recently tweeted while pointing to the below roadmap:

“The roadmap I made back in March updated with (very rough and approximate!) progress bars showing what has been done and some of the recent tweaks to the roadmap itself. A lot has been accomplished, but still a lot remains to be done!”

According to Buterin, the progress on data sharding and light clients currently sit below 50 percent, which means that Phase 1 of Ethereum 2.0 would still be one year away. The next significant developments Ethereum has in store for 2021 would involve the launching of 64 shard chains, operating under the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and validated by ETH stakers.

Ethereum 1.0 is still looking forward to Phase 1.5, where the Ethereum mainnet finally gets to join the Beacon chain as a shard chain, marking a full transition into a proof-of-stake network. This is scheduled to happen in 2021 as well.

Buterin further urged the community to work hard for an Ethereum improvement proposal, EIP-1559, which aims to reduce transaction fees by introducing flat fees with a burn mechanism. EIP-1559 was the first serious proposal to suggest burning fees since Ethereum’s genesis block in 2015.

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Tagged : Beacon Chain / ETH 2.0 / Ethereum