10M Ether Now Locked on Eth 2.0 Staking Contract

Over 10 million ether (ETH) is now locked on Ethereum’s Eth 2.0 staking contract ahead of a planned upgrade to a proof-of-stake blockchain, data from analytics tool Dune Analytics show.

• The landmark figure was reached nearly 15 months after Eth 2.0 staking went live in November 2020 following a consensus vote.
• Eth 2.0 is the Ethereum network’s multi-stage shift to a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism, which validates transactions using nodes run by “stakers.” This is in favor of the current proof-of-work design, which relies on centralized entities called “miners” for validating transactions on the network.
• The current design has resulted in a slow and expensive network, with fees reaching exorbitant prices of $250 and above, during periods of congestion.
• The Eth 2.0 deposit contract initially required 524,000 ether to launch but was oversubscribed by over 400% in the days closer to the launch after a slow start.
• The data shows that 67,040 unique depositors have contributed to the staking contract. The contributed ether is locked and inaccessible but stakers are earning 4.81% in annual yields, data from Staking Rewards show.
• This month saw a spike of ether deposits to the Eth 2.0 contracts after a relatively lean period in January and February this year, charts show.

• Eth 2.0 is currently in the so-called ‘Kintsugi’ testnet stage before rollout. Testnets run atop and mimic the activity of the core blockchain, or mainnet, without affecting it. They allow developers and the community to test applications and features in a controlled setting.
• Ether saw nominal gains of 2.9% in the past 24 hours as the broader crypto market remained flat. The crypto was trading at $2,620 at the time of writing, as per data from CoinGecko.