Ethereum Watch

• Ethereum has completed the second testnet upgrade.
• ETH concluded the month with a decline.

Ethereum [ETH] is nearing the implementation of the Dencun upgrade on its mainnet, having recently activated the upgrade on another of its testnets.

Despite the coming upgrade, the network still holds the majority share of the Total Value Locked (TVL). However, Layer 2 solutions are anticipated to assume a more prominent role post-upgrade.

Second Ethereum upgrade activation scales successfully 

As per a post on X (formerly Twitter) by an Ethereum educator, Ethereum has successfully activated its Dencun upgrade on its second testnet, Sepolia.

This marks the second activation out of three planned testnets before the final activation on the mainnet.

The initial upgrade on Goerli faced a four-hour delay due to a bug, causing issues in finalizing the testnet upgrade. 

However, the second activation on Sepolia proceeded without any problems, increasing optimism. Assuming a smooth process in the last activation on Holesky, the mainnet upgrade is anticipated to happen in March.

The Dencun upgrade holds significance as it is expected to considerably impact the cost of layer-2 scaling protocols within the Ethereum ecosystem.

Proto-dank sharding is designed to reduce the expenses associated with rollups, which typically aggregate transactions and data off-chain, submitting computational proof to the network.

The final testnet activation is scheduled for early February.

Ethereum maintains a dominant TVL share

AMBCrypto’s examination of the Total Value Locked (TVL) on DefiLlama showed that Ethereum maintained its dominance in the decentralized finance (DeFi) space.

As of this writing, the overall TVL for the market was around $56.2 billion, with Ethereum’s TVL surpassing $31.6 billion. This showed that Ethereum contributed to more than half of the total TVL in the market.

Additionally, the stablecoin market cap was around $70 billion, reflecting a substantial presence.

AMBCrypto’s analysis of the volume trend showed that Ethereum’s trading activity has recently remained strong, consistently above $1 billion. As of this writing, the trading volume was over $1.4 billion.

This showed its enduring dominance in the market, despite the growing popularity of Layer 2 solutions.

It is important to note that the rise of Layer 2 solutions is not positioned as a competition to Ethereum, but as a complementary addition to the existing ecosystem.

How much are 1,10,100 ETHs worth today?

ETH ends the month with a downtrend 

AMBCrypto’s look at Ethereum’s daily timeframe chart showed a downtrend after trading on the 31st of January, marking a downside for the month.

The chart analysis showed a decline of 2.64%, with ETH trading at around $2,281. This downtrend continued as of this writing, with ETH trading around $2,271 and experiencing a loss of less than 1%.

Source