The Shanghai update was a major upgrade on the Ethereum network as it allowed Ethereum users to withdraw their staked Ethereum on the beacon deposit contracts. Since the Shanghai upgrade, a new trend has grown steadily, making many experts start forming the opinion that crypto users prefer Ethereum's utility to be more of a passive income.
Simply put, instead of recording more withdrawals from the beacon deposit contracts, users are staking large numbers of Ethereum on the smart contract. Apparently, traders and investors now see Ethereum as a passive income, where they can earn interest from staking.
Since the Shanghai upgrade, the number of Ethereum staked on the beacon deposit contract has reached a new all-time high. After surpassing more than 25.8 million ETH, the beacon chain contracts are now seen as Ethereum passive income opportunities. The 25.8 million ETH staked on the beacon deposit contracts is currently worth over $48 billion, according to the recent data shared by Cryptorank.
On Twitter, the blockchain and cryptocurrency industry analytics platform shared a tweet saying:
"Ethereum Deposit Contract Value Reaches New ATH
Since the Shanghai upgrade, the staking ratio of #Ethereum blockchain continues to rise. The accumulation of #ETH on beacon deposit contract has skyrocketed after the network upgrade, now reaching over 25.8M $ETH, worth over $48M."
Ethereum Deposit Contract Value Reaches New ATH
— CryptoRank Platform (@CryptoRank_io) June 29, 2023
Since the Shanghai upgrade, the staking ratio of #Ethereum blockchain continues to rise. The accumulation of #ETH on beacon deposit contract has skyrocketed after the network upgrade, now reached over 25.8M $ETH, worth over $48M.… pic.twitter.com/2dgbn9JquV
It's important to recognize that the expansion of Ethereum didn't happen all at once in June. The growth progressed gradually, as evidenced by activity in May. During that month, the value of Ethereum tokens staked in the beacon deposit contracts surpassed $40 billion. Between late May and the end of June, this number increased by an additional $8 billion, bringing the total to $48 billion.
However, this growth happened due to Ethereum’s transition from the proof-of-work (PoW) to the proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. Features unavailable while operating as a PoW are now available in the PoS mechanism.
Ethereum Price Positive After Increase In Staking
Away from the beacon deposit contracts, the Ethereum token price has been positive within the past few days. At the time of writing, the Ethereum price currently stands at $1889, representing more than a 1% increase in the token's price within the past 24 hours.
Its daily charts aren't the only place where the Ethereum price is positive. The weekly charts show that the token has been steadfast with its price increase. The Ethereum token added about $16 to its price within the past week, and the percentage increase is 0.88%.
Compared to last month, the Ethereum token has increased in the monthly charts. In the past month, the token added about 26 dollars to its price compared to a month ago. The percentage increase has been up by more than 1.42%.
Another thing to note is that the number of non-exchange addresses holding Ethereum has been increasing consistently. This new development can be traced to the recent crackdown on prominent crypto exchanges like Binance and Coinbase by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Binance, in particular, was hit with a 13-count charge. Issues like this have made investors move their Ethereum tokens to non-exchange wallet addresses.