By Franklin Smith
The ETH 2.0 Merge remains some days away. And it’s the most awaited event in the blockchain market in 2022. According to Santiment’s data, the ‘Merge’ word search has spiked since mid-August.
The Merge means the last migration of the ETH platform into a PoS (proof-of-stake) mechanism from its present PoW (proof-of-work) consensus. Meanwhile, 421,391 validators have staked 14,244,404 ETH tokens as they await the Merge. Let us check user behavior for stETH so far.
Staked Ethereum 101
Dune Analytics data shows wallets with stETH fall into different categories based on their stETH balance. Wallets with more than 10K stETH represents the whale category. Those with 3k to 10k tokens are Orcas, whereas addresses holding 1,000 – 3,000 stETH are dolphins.
Users can obtain stETH coins in several ways. It can be via staking ETH tokens, purchasing on a DEX (decentralized exchange), or from EOS (Externally Operated Address) and a CEX (centralized exchange).
Meanwhile, Dune analytics shows staking Ethereum as the most preferred option for obtaining stETH by the mentioned wallet cohort.
Investors stake ETH to sell stETH received on decentralized exchanges. Some players offer wstETH/stETH liquidity to decentralized exchange pools, utilize stETH as non-ETH and ETH loan collateral, or hold the coins passively.
Increased Growth on Ethereum 2.0 Platform?
OKLink data shows the Ethereum staking rate grew by 2% within the past three months to 11.3%. Also, the addresses that promised Ether tokens ahead of the Merge increased by 5% during that timeframe.
Though the ETH tokens pledge (ahead of the ETH2.0) grew substantially day-to-day, the metric has seen consistent dips since Nov 2021. OKLink data shows daily ETH pledges declined by more than 75% since November 2021.
Ethereum Price
Ethereum saw its price decline by 8% over the past months, following pessimistic macroeconomic situations and the overall crypto market slump. While publishing this post, ETH changed hands near $1,565.44 (Coinmarketcap data). Bears maintain the lead in the marketplace, frightening more downsides.
What are your views about the upcoming ETH transition? Should we expect more opportunities? Feel free to leave your reply in the section below.