Ethereum Shanghai Upgrade Tomorrow: Here’s What You Can Expect From the Crypto Markets

One of the biggest events of the year, the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, is expected to roll out, which aims to address the soaring gas fee and enable the withdrawal of the staked ETH. The upgrade is also expected to enhance the smart contract capabilities so they can compete with those of other emerging smart contract platforms. After a couple of delays, the upgrade is finally set to roll out on April 12, 2023, as said by a lead Ethereum developer, Tim Beiko.

Many assumptions and perceptions are drawn on the impact of the event on the entire crypto space, specifically the Ethereum price. Some believed the unlocked ETH would flood in the markets, creating immense selling pressure, while others believe the staking rate over the platform may continue to soar. Beyond this, some significant impacts may be expected on the entire market as mentioned below, 

• Staking Withdrawals May be slower than expected

The Shanghai upgrade will allow the withdrawal of staked ETH, which has been held on the ETH 2.0 smart contract for over 50 months now. Besides, the crypto markets have witnessed a massive bull run and a merciless bear market in this period. Hence, the traders are not expected to withdraw all at once, which may keep the markets calm.

• LSD protocols may witness a massive drop

LSD, or liquid staking derivatives, have become one of the most popular means of earning rewards by delegating their tokens via liquid staking pools like Lido DAO. The rate is expected to drop to a large extent as the main reason was to liquidate, which will be solved after the upgrade. 

• Ethereum price may spike triggering an Altseason

With the rising popularity of ETH and ETH-based tokens, the price is believed to propel heavily in the coming days. Meanwhile, a significant impact on the altcoins is also expected, which may further trigger a notable altseason. Besides, Bitcoin’s dominance is also waning slowly, which may keep up the alts for the longer run. 

Besides the Ethereum Shanghai upgrade, many other factors may also have a deep influence on the crypto space. The US CPI data, FOMC MoM, consumer sentiment data, etc. may have their own impact not only on the crypto space but also on the traditional stock markets. Therefore, until the markets give out confirmations, one cannot determine the resurgence of a bullish trend.