Ethereum, the largest altcoin has continued to take measures to complete the much anticipated ‘merge’ into ETH 2.0. Although, at first scheduled in June had been postponed. As the thing stands, there is no final deadline for the complete outcome. Nonetheless, it didn’t quite stop validators from staking their share, showcasing their support.
How’s it lookin’ down there?
Well, for starters, despite the ups and downs, the in-transit merge has done huge favors to the largest altcoin network. As the Ethereum network accelerates the shift towards ETH 2.0, investors have geared up for the staking functionality by continuing to deposit Ether.
As of 26 May, the total ETH 2.0 deposit contracts had attained a new all-time high of 12,680,930 ETH, data provided by Glassnode indicates.
The deposit contract is where Ethereum investors sent their ether if they want to stake in the network, and likewise, get rewards. The upgrades are in line with Ethereum’s ongoing transition towards changing the network to a proof-of-stake. The shift is expected to make Ethereum an energy-efficient eco system.
In addition to this, the number of addresses witnessed a similar scenario given the increase in holders’ capacity. For instance, ETH’s number of addresses holding 100+ Coins reached a 1-year high of 43,297. Even though the said mark didn’t quite match the previous ATH, at least investors remained hopeful.
Source: Glassnode
Here’s another positive sign. The number of Ethereum addresses with a non-zero balance hit a new all-time high—just like it did at this time last year. Now more than 81 million addresses holding some amount of the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, according to blockchain data site Glassnode.
Source: Glassnode
These developments coupled with the latest drop in the fee structure could trigger a price rally soon.
A possible delay…?
Ethereum’s network did witness a hiccup along the way to its destination. The Ethereum beacon chain, which will be crucial to the Ethereum Merge scheduled for later this year, experienced a potentially high-level security risk known as a blockchain “reorganization.”
The Ethereum beacon chain experienced a 7-block deep reorg ~2.5h ago. This shows that the current attestation strategy of nodes should be reconsidered to hopefully result in a more stable chain! (proposals already exist) pic.twitter.com/BkQrKuUlw1
— Martin Köppelmann 🇺🇦 (@koeppelmann) May 25, 2022
This error could happen either through a network failure, such as a bug, or a malicious attack, temporarily resulting in a duplicate version of a blockchain. The longer a reorg lasts, the more serious the consequences. To make things worse, ETH plunged to its lowest level against Bitcoin in October 2021.
Today’s pullback saw ETH’s dollar value plunge 7%, leaving some $86 million in liquidated positions.
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