Ethereum 2.0, the upgrade of one of the most popular blockchains in the crypto ecosystem, started its journey officially with the launch of Beacon Chain in December 2020. At the start, the ETH community staked almost 600,000 Ethereum under the deposit contract. The number crossed 1 million within the first week of its official launch. Now, it has surpassed the level of 9.5 million.
With the participation of large crypto holders and institutional investors, the deposit contract of ETH 2.0 has witnessed a gradual increase in the total volume of staked ETH. In August 2021, the contract topped 7 million coins for the first time.
The figure breached the level of 8 million in November last year and the total value surpassed $35 billion after Ethereum touched a record high price level of almost $4,900. However, with the price plunge, the overall value has dropped sharply. The value of staked ETH under the deposit contract of its network upgrade currently stands at around $26 billion.
ETH’s transaction fee recently reached its lowest level in 7 months after a dip in its price. “With Ethereum dropping back below $3,000, the demand to make ETH transactions has stayed relatively low. And, with this, transaction fees are now officially at their lowest level since July 28, 2021,” Santiment noted recently.
Crypto Whales
With stagnant growth in price, Bitcoin and Ethereum networks have become less popular among whale investors in the past few days. Since the start of February 2022, large crypto holders have decreased the accumulation of BTC.
“The number of whales on the network with 100 to 100,000 BTC has remained flat since Feb 1. These wealthy market participants do not appear interested in buying BTC at the current price levels and could be expecting to buy Bitcoin at a discount,” crypto trader Ali Martinez highlighted on Twitter.
