Ethereum 2.0 is the next evolutionary phase of the Ethereum blockchain. It will mark the transition from proof-of-work algorithm to proof-of-stake. In the process, the Ethereum 2.0 Staking Contract recently reached an all-time high of 3.6 million ETH – over 3% of the total supply.

Glassnode is reporting that at its current price of approximately $1’631, the total ETH value inside of the staking contract amounts to nearly $6.1 billion. This is a massive sum, signaling a great deal of support behind the upgrade.

The amount of staked ETH has since dropped by about 300’000, but there is a clear trend of growth since the staking contract launched. Stakers have added over 1 million ETH since January 1, 2021. The total amount exceeds 3% of the entire Ethereum supply.

The ETH 2.0 upgrade will bring numerous improvements to the network, including sharding and a transition to a Proof-of-Stake consensus. Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, in a Reddit post, outlined how the changes would roll out:

He identifies the most important changes – a roll-centric roadmap, a simplified merge, and parallelization of phases. After all is said and done, the network is expected to handle 100’000 transactions per second.

ETH 2.0 Remains as Popular as Ever

The ETH 2.0 deposit contract, which went live on Dec. 1. 2020, required a minimum of validators to go live. It achieved this easily and later on even went to receive over 3’200 ETH from Buterin himself. Kraken users alone have staked more than 250’000 ETH.

The upcoming changes to the network, which will be introduced in a phased manner, will prepare Ethereum for the popularity of its dApps. High gas fees and transaction times have affected the market negatively. Some transactions on platforms like Uniswap can cost upwards of $100.

The future of ETH certainly looks bright with the way things are going. The DeFi market is tied closely to the performance of the Ethereum network. Therefore, following more improvements, DeFi market statistics could see a large boost.

*Originally posted at CVJ.CH