ETH 2.0 Nearing Take-Off As Staked ETH Tops $5.4 Billion

The total number of ether (ETH) staked in the Ethereum 2.0 beacon chain deposit contract has now surpassed three million (3,088,610 ETH). The Ethereum developers are working hard to make the Eth2 transition a huge success.

Staked Ether Surpass Three Million

According to data available on Etherscan, a massive 3,088,610 ETH ($5,441 billion) has now been staked by interested validators on the Eth2 deposit contract Beacon Chain, with crypto exchanges like Kraken, Binance and others actively participating in ETH staking on the platform.

Per the Ethereum development team, Eth2 represents the next generation of the Ethereum network and it’s a multi-year project designed to transform the network into a more scalable, secure and programmable distributed ledger technology platform, without compromising on decentralization.

In addition to improving the performance and robustness of the network, the Eth2 project also aims to dump the current proof-of-work (PoW) consensus algorithm it shares with established networks like Bitcoin, to proof-of-stake(PoS) mechanism, where validators will be able to lock up their ether (staking) and get rewarded with ETH for their efforts to secure the network. 

To become an Eth2 validator, interested participants must be able to stake a minimum of 32 ETH on the deposit contract via the validator node. 

Steady Progress 

The Eth2 deposit contract for Beacon Chain officially went live in November 2020 and within a few weeks after its launch, the 524,288 ETH required for its activation was successfully staked on the network. 

For those who are unaware, the Beacon Chain functions as a bridge between Eth1 and Eth2. Its primary objective is to effectively manage the PoS protocol for itself as well as other shard chains. 

The Beacon chain is responsible for managing validators and their stakes, nominating the chosen block proposer, arranging validators into committees to vote on proposed blocks and more.

The steady progress being made by the Eth2 development team has continued to have a positive effect on the price of ether (ETH), as more and more Ethereum hodlers have been staking their coins in support of the project.

As reported by BTCManager on February 9, 2021, the launch of Ether futures contracts by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) has attracted a good number of institutional investors to Ether. And it remains to be seen if the trend will continue into the future.