A new survey conducted by OKX, the world’s second-largest crypto exchange, has revealed that 63% of respondents believe that Ethereum (ETH) will hit a new record high of over $5,000 by the end of 2023.
The findings were released in a press release today and reflect the sentiment of 700 ETH traders, investors, and network developers at the ETH Denver conference.
The survey also found that 83% of respondents expect more ETH to be staked in the next three months. It is in anticipation of the two-part Shanghai-Capella (Shapella) upgrade, which is scheduled for April 12th and will enable withdrawals of staked ETH.
The survey revealed that 79% of respondents expect ETH’s price to react differently to Shapella than to the Merge, with 59% believing that the price will continue to increase before and after the upgrade.
Moreover, a third of the participants expect ETH to surpass its current six-month peak of $2,000 by June 2023, yet still fall short of its 12-month high of $3,000.
In contrast, 34% of those polled anticipate ETH to remain below $2,000, while another third foresee it to reach a minimum of $3,100 by the same month.
However, as of April 5th, 2023, 17.9 million ETH had been staked, equivalent to over $34 billion. The APR investors earn on staked ETH is currently 4.65%, which decreases as the pool of staked ETH increases.
OKX has stated that it will begin processing withdrawal requests for staked ether within one week of Shapella going live, following the company’s completion of on-chain code audits to ensure customer safety.
Nevertheless, the survey reveals a bullish sentiment toward Ethereum, with most respondents expecting its value to increase significantly in the coming months.
With the Shapella upgrade set to enable withdrawals of staked ETH, it is likely to see more investors entering the market and driving up the price of ETH even further.
Ethereum Price Analysis
At present, based on the information provided by CoinMarketcap, Ethereum is being traded at $1,856.98. The daily chart shows a minor decline of 0.84%, but the last seven days show an increase of 1.67%.
Looking at the historical data, ETH achieved its daily peak on April 5th at $1,937.50. This high was last observed in August 2022, which was around 8 months ago.
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