Ethereum 2.0’s beacon chain is all set to be scheduled for shipping on the 1st of December. 52,993 ETH has been deposited. But, there are still more than 14.8K 32-ETH validators to meet its 524,288 ETH genesis threshold. As the deadline approached, addresses with over 32 ETH appeared to be resuming a much-needed uptrend.
Up until now, the deposit contract has collected a little more than 10% of the entire target. This comes after the deposit contract for Ethereum’s 2.0 upgrade went live in the first week of November. This prompted many interested community members to deploy more than 52K ETH in anticipation of staking. However, to meet the genesis threshold, the contract will need to receive the minimum stake threshold seven days before that date.
Danny Ryan had previously noted,
“To trigger genesis at this time, there must be at least 16,384 32 ETH validator deposits 7 days prior to December 1. If not, genesis will be triggered 7 days after this threshold has been met (whenever that may be).”
Addresses With 32 ETH Balance Soars
It is important to note that this deposit contract is the very foundation of the 2.0 update and serves as a bridge for the migration Ethereum network away from proof-of-work [PoW] to a new technical infrastructure that supports proof-of-stake [PoS]. To become a validator on the new network a user is required to stake at least 32 ETH.
The number of balances of addresses with balances of more than 32 ETH has risen significantly. The figures noted a steep surge especially over the last month as the deadline for the watershed update neared.
Ethereum 2.0 Investment, Worthwhile or Not?
An informal Twitter poll conducted by the CEO of MyCrypto, Taylor Monahan, indicated that a significant majority of Ethereum users would not consider investment in Ethereum 2.0 beneficial. According to the original tweet, over 48% of respondents on the microblogging site clicked ‘No’ following which Monahan took another dig at the much-anticipated launch and posted,
The cause of reluctance can be attributed to the fact that the stakers on the network sacrifice liquidity for relatively low yields and an uncertain lockup period because Ethereum 2.0 deposits cannot be withdrawn or used until the implementation of its first and second phases which may take years.
Just a day after the Ethereum Foundation published ETH 2.0 specifications explaining how the genesis phase will be invoked, Vitalik Buterin, the Founder of the network reportedly sent 3,200 ETH to the genesis phase deposit contract in a bid to begin staking after the shift.