Ethereum’s Shanghai Upgrade Results in Just Over 1 Million Token Withdrawals, No Market Upheaval: Details

The Ethereum blockchain underwent the Shanghai upgrade last week, but has not seen any upheaval in the market that was predicted by members of the crypto community. The withdrawals of staked ETH tokens amounted for only over 1 million tokens over the last five days. This did not shake up the crypto market as expected, hinting at a bullish sentiment in the market. In the backdrop of this development, Ether has jumped to its highest prices recorded in eleven months.

On April 12, Ethereum completed its Shanghai upgrade that now allows it validators to withdraw the ETH tokens that they have staked on the blockchain to enter the blockchain validator software. To do so, one has to deposit or ‘stake’ ETH 32 on the blockchain and take the responsibility to store data, process transactions, and earn rewards in return.

Days before Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade, members of the crypto community began to suspect that several ETH stakers could rush to the blockchain to withdraw their tokens. If that happened, the crypto market could suffer massive upheaval.

Contrary to these expectations, only over 1 million ETH tokens left the Ethereum blockchain from over 477,085 transactions, data by Beacon Chain tracker showed. Currently, ETH is trading at the price point of $2,097 (roughly Rs. 1.71 lakh). At this rate, around $2 billion (roughly Rs. 17,194 crore) have reportedly been “unstaked” out of the Ethereum blockchain.

Ether has a market cap of over $249 billion (roughly Rs. 20,40,617 crore). This is why the amount it lost after its Shanghai upgrade did not have a catastrophic effect on its trading value as well as on the overall crypto market. Three “whale” wallets withdrew over 19,000 ETH tokens, details of which have emerged on Twitter.

“Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency, achieved a new 11-month high. ETH, in the last few days, clocked a 134 percent increase since its lowest cycle in June 2022. This has fuelled fresh enthusiasm among investors following the successful Shanghai upgrade,” Edul Patel, CEO of Mudrex crypto investment firm told Gadgets 360.