Ethereum has reached another milestone, with over 23.5 million ETH staked.
Staking is the process of locking up a cryptocurrency in a proof-of-stake blockchain to contribute to network security and earn rewards.
Similar to depositing cash into high-yield accounts at big banks, staking enables token holders to earn passive income on their assets without having to sell or trade them.
The more people who stake, the more secure the blockchain becomes.
ETH price is heavily dependent on its value against the US dollar. In November 2021, when the price of ETH reached an all-time high of $4,400, there had only been 8.2 million staked ETH — which is roughly $15 billion — locked in the network.
Currently, with ETH priced at $1,880, over $38 billion is being used to secure the network.
Although validators have had the opportunity to stake ETH since the Ethereum Merge in September last year, staking didn’t grow dramatically in popularity until the Shapella upgrade, which enabled withdrawals.
There has been a net inflow of 3.6 million staked ETH ($6.9 billion) following the Shanghai upgrade, showing that interest in the ethereum blockchain has remained at an all-time high.
The total circulating supply of ETH is currently at 120.2 million ETH, and staked ETH makes up roughly 19.4% of all of the ETH on-chain. That is equivalent to roughly 6.4% of bitcoin’s market capitalization fully staked in Ethereum.
In fact, staked ETH is becoming so popular, that the raw number of ETH staked on the Ethereum blockchain is almost about to surpass the total amount of ether that is kept on all cryptocurrency exchanges.
The growing interest in Ethereum staking is a positive sign for the network, and indicates that ETH holders are moving away from centralized entities and into more decentralized spaces.
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Source: https://blockworks.co/news/staked-eth-hits-20m-milestone