Ethereum Report from JPMorgan: “Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade Did Not Have the Expected Impact!”

JPMorgan’s latest research report suggests that Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade, implemented in April, has not resulted in the expected increase in activity on the world’s leading smart contract blockchain.

Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade Failed to Spark Network Activity, JPMorgan Reports

The transition from proof of work (PoW) to proof of stake (PoS) as a result of the Merge upgrade has greatly reduced the energy consumption of the Ethereum network by over 99%.

Despite this positive development, JPMorgan analysts led by Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou noted a disappointing trend in network metrics since the Shanghai upgrade.

According to the report, Ethereum’s daily transaction count decreased by 12%, daily active addresses dropped by nearly 20%, and the total value locked (TVL) in decentralized finance (DeFi) on the blockchain decreased by almost 8%.

JPMorgan suggests that last year’s bearish factors, including the collapses of Terra and FTX, U.S. regulatory pressure, and a shrinking stablecoin ecosystem, may have outweighed the positive effects of the Shanghai upgrade.

Although staking has increased by 50% since the upgrade that improved network security, concerns have been raised about centralization due to the significant presence of liquid staking protocols such as Lido.

*This is not investment advice.