Ethereum, the largest altcoin continues to suffer the bearish winter within the crypto market. ETH slipped below the $2k mark following aggressive sell-offs from traders/investors. The number of addresses in loss reached an ATH of 34,966,535 as per Glassnode. Thus, showcasing the reason behind the event.
However, the altcoin has another ace up its sleeve- something that ETH relied upon.
Smiling through the pain
For starters, “The Merge” refers to the long-awaited upgrade to the Ethereum blockchain. The number two cryptocurrency would switch to a proof-of-stake model, a change that should eliminate concerns about Ethereum’s environmental impact. Likewise, improve its transaction speed.
To achieve the ‘deflationary’ status, and in line with the Merge, the said cryptocurrency kept destroying a portion of its own supply. In fact, the amount of supply last active 3y-5y reached a 5-month low of 18,579,468.002 ETH.
Source: Glassnode
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 30 May, the latest stats recorded an impressive figure. The number of staking ETH 2.0 deposit contract addresses reached 12,711,363, and the staking rate has reached 10.72%. This means more than 10.72% of the ETH, currently in circulation is deposited in ETH2.
In addition, Ethereum network fees,at the time of writing, were the cheapest they have been in over ten months. The average ETH transfer fee slid to a low of $2.96 per transaction.
Current #Ethereum safe low gas price: 27 Gwei
Chart(7d): https://t.co/oUmmnTmUHt
Chart(24h): pic.twitter.com/GoA4e8ZFFe— Ethereum Gas Price Chart (@ETHfeeChart) May 30, 2022
The aforementioned factors could, indeed, help the flagship coin register a short rally soon. In fact, at press time, ETH did witness an 8% surge that aided ETH in crossing the $1.9k mark.
The question remains unanswered
ETH’s ambitious switch has met different roadblocks in terms of delays over the months. Recently, it experienced a high-level security risk known as a blockchain “reorganization.” To make things worse, no definitive date has been released for the “much-anticipated” upgrade.
The question remains, until when can ETH depend on this “anticipation” to register some gains?