Ethereum, the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, is on a dream run as the price of ETH has jumped by more than 200% since the start of this year. ETH 2.0, the much-awaited network upgrade of Ethereum, has gained massive support from the ETH community as the deposit contract of ETH 2.0 crossed 3.9 million Ethereum.
According to the latest data published by Etherescan, the total value of the staked ETH under Ethereum 2.0 touched $9 billion, which is its highest level on record. The deposit contract of ETH 2.0 crossed 3 million ETH in February 2021.
The network upgrade of Ethereum started its journey in December 2020 with the launch of Beacon Chain. The ETH community staked more than 1 million Ethereum within the first week of December 2020 to support the network upgrade.
The start of Ethereum’s network upgrade has contributed a lot towards the institutional adoption of the cryptocurrency. Grayscale, the world’s largest digital asset manager, recently published a report about ETH and highlighted the potential benefits of its network upgrade. Grayscale now has more than 3 million ETH under management with a total value of approximately $7.3 billion.
Ethereum Whales
The latest price jump in Ethereum has accelerated its on-chain activities as well. According to the latest data published by Santiment, a crypto Analytics firm, the total number of Ethereum whale addresses holding at least 10,000 ETH has surged to a record high of 1,307. Transfer activities from unknown ETH whales have also increased over the last few months amid a jump in its price and market cap. Blockchain tracking and analytics firm, Whale Alert recently highlighted a transfer of 21,838 ETH to an unknown wallet on 21 April at 1:53 UTC. The total value of the mentioned transaction stands at around $50 million.
Ethereum touched an all-time high of $2,500 on 16 April. The digital currency is currently trading above $2,300, which is up by more than 9% in the last 24 hours. ETH has a market cap of more than $268 billion.
